Fangs & Fins
by fangsandfins
Summary: Rose Collins, has not been herself since she was 10 years old. She rarely ever smiles & her sister, Lily, is quite worried about her. But when a new student by the name of James Wood comes along, will he be able to bring her back to life?
1. Prologue&Chapter 1: The Present

**Fangs & Fins  
****"Prologue"**

Rose remembered the day her mother was killed quite well because it had been the day she had met Lewis.  
Rose's mother had taken Rose and her little brother Elliot to the Fun Fair at Lily's school. Lily had helped organize the fair and was eager to show it to her family.  
Though Rose secretly admired her 12-year-old sister, she pretended that she completely loathed the Fair and all the people who set it up when she really found all the different colors, stands, and people fascinating.  
Lily was stationed at the climbing structure. _It was pretty impressive_, Rose thought. She stuck her hands in the pockets on her dress and stared at the structure.  
Lily was shooting a glance at the boy next to her. He was blond, like Lily and Rose but was taller than both of them.  
"Mum, this is Lewis Williams. He helped raise the money to get the structure here. Lewis, this is my mum, my sister Rose, and my brother Elliot."  
"I'm four", Elliot said. He swayed a bit on the spot.  
Rose found this strange, Elliot was quiet and never handled strangers well. Maybe he just had a good feeling about Lewis.  
"Nice to meet you Elliot", Lewis said. He held out his hand and Elliot shook it. Lewis offered his hand to Rose.  
"You must be Rose."  
"Yeah." Rose gave Lewis' hand a good shake.  
"Mommy I want to climb that", Elliot said. He pointed at the structure behind the table Lewis and Lily were sitting at.  
Rose's mother took Elliot's hand. "We're going to go climb the structure. Rose do you want to wait on the stairs for us with Lily and Lewis? We'll be right back."  
Rose's mom paid Lewis for the tickets and she and Elliot headed up the structure.  
That was the last thing her mom said.  
Rose sighed dramatically. Lewis was calculating how much money they had made in the last hour and Lily was rocking back and forth on her heals. Rose sighed and did what Elliot had done and swayed on the spot.  
Lily and Lewis were discussing the amount of cash the structure had brought in. Rose found this rather boring. She snuck around Lewis and headed for the stairs.  
Rose raced up the stairs as fast as she could. They were gray and metal and looked easy to slide off of, but she didn't care. She went up about forty stairs till she came to a small platform. The platform had a big metal chain in front of it with a "Closed" sign taped into it.  
That was weird. Rose knew her mom and Elliot would be back by now if it was closed. And she hadn't run into them on the stairs. Maybe they had been the last ones to go before the structure closed.  
Rose slipped under the chain and weaved her way around the little platform. There was a chair, the entrance to the structure, and a window with a metal linked screen, that opened into another room. Rose looked through the links and saw a man.  
He was wearing a trench coat, even though it was hot outside, along with long black pants. He had his arms and head bent over something. His body was at a weird angle so Rose couldn't see what he was leaning over. She put her nose against the window and stood on her toes to see what it was.  
At first, Rose couldn't tell what it was. Whatever it was, it was very pale and tiny.  
Elliot.  
The man was eating Elliot!  
She took a step back and her leg hit the seat of the chair. The chair slide back and hit the chain. The chain wasn't hooked on all the way and the chair fell down the stairs, making a lot of noise in the process.  
Rose froze. The man was slowly turning around. He had dark hair, dark eyes, and was very good looking.  
He fixed his glare on Rose and she felt her heart beat faster than it ever had before. His mouth was bloody'  
"ROSE!" a female voice screamed.  
Rose looked on the floor at Elliot. He looked completely colorless, like someone had completely drained his little body of blood. Next to where Elliot was set on the floor, the man was sucking the blood out of her mother.  
Vampire.  
The man hadn't been eating Elliot, he had been sucking the blood out of him!  
Rose started to shake all over. Lily had read her stories about vampires. They had always thought they weren't real.  
"LILY!" Rose screamed, running down the stairs.  
She nearly slipped on the metal a few times, but made it down to Lily. Lewis wasn't there, so Rose assumed he was taking a break.  
Rose!

"Lily, Lily! You have to come quick. It's Mum and Elliot! He was eating Elliot, and then he went after Mum! Oh, Lily, you have to come quick!" Rose panicked, her mouth rambling a mile a minute.  
"Calm down Rose. What is going on? Who's eating Elliot?" Lily said, trying to calm her younger sister down.  
Nothing could calm Rose down; not after what she saw.  
Rose tried to speak more slowly so Lily could understand her. "It's Mum and Elliot. A man was eating them!"  
"What? That's ridiculous! I'm sure you were imagining things." Lily assured her.  
"No, this is real. Elliot and Mum are dead! I'll show you!" Rose grabbed Lily's arm and dragged up those forty stairs.  
"This is ridiculous, we're wasting time! I'm sure Mum is very worried about us." Lily kept coming up with excuses the closer they got to that wretched room. The room where Rose saw her mother and brother eaten to death.  
When they had arrived, Rose was hesitant on what she might find. She couldn't bare to look at her mother and brother in such a way. What she had already seen was traumatizing. Rose opened the screen and saw heaps and heaps of bodies laying everywhere. It was madness!  
Rose looked at her loving sister's face. Her face was full of fear and despair.  
Ten and twelve year olds shouldn't have to put up with this.  
They both scanned the room to see if they could spot their brother and mother.  
No where in sight.  
Off in a distance, away from where Rose and Lily currently stood, a boy was helping his father.  
But this was no ordinary father and son. They were vampires. The same that killed Rose and Lily's mother and brother. And what this boy was doing was helping his father get rid of the bodies.  
"Now son, now that you saw how to attack a human and get your own blood, do you think you're up for it?"  
The boy was unable to say anything at first; afraid of what his father would say.  
"James! Didn't you hear me!?" his father yelled.  
His father tended to be furious with him on many occasions.  
"Y-y-y-es father, I did." James said, his lip quivering with fear.  
"And?"  
"And, I think it's wrong. Nobody should go through this kind of pain. It's cruel!"  
"Well, you better man up, because from now on, I won't be supplying blood." James' father yelled. "Do something about her will you?"  
And with that his father was off.  
_Probably to kill more innocent people_, James thought.  
Why must he be a vampire? Why him? He wasn't special. He didn't ask for this. All he wanted was to be a normal ordinary boy.  
He did as his father was told. He dragged the corpse of the woman outside near the fire pit.  
While doing so, Rose and Lily were still trying to see if they could locate anything within sight in that room. Apparently the vampire that had killed their mother and brother was long gone. But the question still remained: Where were their mother and Elliot?  
"Wait. Did you see that?" Rose asked. She could have sworn she saw someone dragging something. But it was much too dark and she couldn't see very well.  
"I can't see a thing, Rose." Lily explained, hating this by the minute.  
Rose started to get up to take a step into the room.  
Lily noticed what she was doing and yelled at her through gritted teeth, "What are you doing? I am not just going to let you get killed too!"  
"I have to know what's going on." Rose said.  
And with that she was off. Not even bothering to listen to Lily's reaction.  
As she went further and further into the room she noticed a light. That light must lead to somewhere outside.  
And as a matter of fact it did. Soon she was outside and still trying to locate where her now dead mother and brother were.  
Meanwhile, with James, every second he was dragging that corpse, the more guilt that had overcome him. This poor woman had died and for what? She didn't do anything wrong.  
_Clink!_  
James jumped at the sound of the sudden noise. "What the-" He looked to the back of him, where the corpse lay, and scrimmaged through the ground, trying to find where the noise had come from.  
_Clink!_ His hand was resting on what looked like a piece of jewelry. He held it up. It was a locket of some sort with a purple gem in the middle.  
_This must have been on the woman's neck_, he thought.  
He figured it'd be best if he would keep it. It might be worth something one day. And it was the least he could do, saving this rare piece of jewelry that probably meant a lot to the woman.  
He was about to start dragging her to the fire pit again when he heard a scream.  
He looked in front of him.  
The scream had come from a little girl that looked to be the same age as him. Blonde curly hair tied back into braids. And those eyes, he will never forget those ocean blue eyes. What should have been filled with happiness was filled with dread. He realized this was a relative of hers and he couldn't continue dragging this body to the fire pit.  
So he did what he only could.  
He ran, ran as fast as he could.

**Chapter 1: "The Present"**

**6 years later**

Rose was sitting in her normal booth at the Juicenet Café minding her own business, as usual. She usually keeps to herself, the hood of her hoodie up, blaring her iPod so everyone could hear every note and lyric.  
Her sister Lily came over wearing her Juicenet Café uniform, to Rose's table to see if she was ok.  
Lily was the over-protective older sister, and was really worried about Rose ever since she was ten years old.  
"Not now, Lily." Rose said, turning up her iPod louder, definitely damaging to her ears.  
Lily took Rose's ear buds out of her ears and grabbed her iPod.  
"Hey! What was that for?" Rose yelled, grabbing her iPod back from Lily.  
"All I wanted to do was say 'hi', and you have to turn it into this big thing. Is everything ok?"  
Rose groaned.  
Practically every day Lily asked her this and everyday Rose's reply was, "Everything's fine."  
"If there is anything you need to tell me you can you know? I just want what's best for you." Lily always was the voice of reason. Trying to figure out why Rose acted like this every day for the past six years.  
"There's nothing going on, Mum. Now please leave me alone!"  
Lily sat down in the bench across from her.  
"Whoa, is that what this is about, you miss Mum?"  
"Gee, it only took you six years to figure that out."  
"That happened six years ago, what's done is done."  
Rose couldn't believe how cruel Lily was being.  
"What's done is done? Lily, you don't know what it was like for me. Seeing her getting the life sucked out of her; literally. You weren't there."  
"That doesn't mean it doesn't affect me. I'm mortified it did. But unlike you, I can move on. And that's something that you should be doing as well."  
Rose didn't know whether to scream or cry. Her face was in distraught. "I'm going to pretend you didn't say that."  
"Whatever, let's just drop the subject." Lily explained.  
Suddenly, a loud commotion was overheard.  
Lily and Rose looked in the direction where the noise was coming from. Turns out a big crowd of people came bustling into the Juicenet Café. Four people had walked over to the booth across from Rose and Lily.  
"Ugh, look at them, they're despicable." Rose said, through gritted teeth.  
Lily gave Rose a look. "You just saw them! How can you say that when you don't know anything about them."  
Rose looked at the four people that were sitting across from them.  
There was a guy with short brown hair that was flirting' it up with several girls. Another person that sat next to him was a girl that looked to be about her age, with brown hair that was tied back into a pony tail, seemed to be keeping her distance from the rest of the pack. Rose didn't even know why she was sitting next to this group of people. Across from her was a weird looking creature. In Rose's description of a 'weird looking creature' that was a girl or guy that thought they ruled the world. That everything was about them. The next thing she focused on was her blonde hair that made her look way too promiscuous. She was trying to flirt with the boy next to her, but he obviously wasn't noticing her. That's when she noticed what he was doing. He was staring right at Rose.  
"What's with the creeper?" Rose asked Lily.  
"Rose, don't say that, he's not doing anything wrong." Lily explained to her.  
"Yeah, well he's freaking me out." Rose said. She then yelled across to the guy staring at her, "Hey, take a picture, it'll last longer."  
"Rose!" Lily yelled.  
"What? He was bugging me!" Rose exclaimed to Lily.  
"That's still no way to talk to someone. Seriously, sometimes I don't know where you get off."  
Lily was always like this. Telling Rose what to do. Rose was just about fed up with her.  
"Why don't you go clean some tables or something?" Rose suggested to Lily, obviously trying to get her to leave.  
Lily sighed. "Fine, I'll go now, but I've got my eye on you." Lily then left to see if there was work to be done around the Café.  
Rose thought she was going to be all alone as soon as Lily left, but apparently she was wrong. Just then, the two guys that were seated across from Rose, were starting to get up, and walk in her direction.  
_Oh great, another clueless bunch of guys, saying, "I saw you from back there and just had to come and see you"_, Rose thought. Like she'd ever let that happen again.  
They were getting closer and closer to her booth. Within each step they took, Rose got slightly grossed out _and_ nervous at the same time.  
They were now at her booth and talking to her.  
"Hey, I'm Ben, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out sometime. We could go to my house and…chill." The guy that Rose noticed was the one with short brown hair and that was previously flirting with several other girls. The guy that was previously staring at her didn't say anything.  
Rose answered Ben's question: "Um, sorry but I can't. I don't hang out with guys that just want to get into my pants."  
Ben's expression was pure shock. Apparently, no one had ever turned him down; until now.  
Rose noticed the guy standing next to Ben started to laugh.  
"What? That was funny."  
Ben, apparently too cool to have someone turn him down left the premises.  
That left Rose and the mysterious guy that was just moments ago, staring at her.  
"Oh, I'm sorry I haven't introduced myself." The creepy guy said to Rose. "I'm Woods; James Woods."  
"What are you a 007 agent or something? And if you have the same intentions as your friend, you can leave now."  
"Oh, trust me, I don't. So, I don't have to leave." James continued.  
"Great." Rose said, sarcastically under her breath.  
"So, what's your name?" James asked.  
Rose was hesitant about giving her name. What if this guy turned out to be one of those obsessive people that wouldn't leave her alone? But she figured she better be nice, after all, it's the right thing to do; according to Lily anyway.  
"Rose." Rose mumbled, afraid of what his reply would be.  
"Pardon?"  
Rose spoke more clearly and louder this time. "Rose."  
"Rose, I like it." James told to Rose.  
"Sexy."  
Rose looked up to see who just said that terrible remark. And she was not surprised to see Ben standing there.  
James gave his friend a look.  
"What, I just told the truth." Ben chuckled.  
James faced Rose. "I think I better go, before this gets ugly."  
Rose smiled for what seemed like the first time in six years. Wait, why was she smiling? She's only known this guy for five minutes and already she was under his spell. "Yeah, well it was nice talking to you." _Seriously, where was this niceness coming from?_ Rose thought. She was never nice to anyone.  
"Nice talking to you too, Rose." James said.  
The way he said her name, reminded her of the way her Mom used to say her name.  
He walked away, and the minute he was no longer facing her, Rose's smile disappeared. She was back to her depressed state, iPod and all.  
After fifteen minutes of her usual depressing routine, she got up to leave and noticed a single red rose staring her in the face on the table.  
She picked up the rose.  
"What the hell?"

* * *

  
_Hey guys this is Kelly! Hope you guys like the prologue & the first chapter of "Fangs & Fins"! Please leave reviews! We'd love to hear what you guys think. Maddie wrote the first half of the prologue & I did the rest & the first chapter. Next week Maddie will post the second chapter! So get ready! :) I'm sure you'll love it! -Kelly_


	2. Chapter 2: Alone Again, Naturally

**Fangs & Fins  
****Chapter 2: "Alone Again, Naturally" **

Rose brought the rose to her face and examined it closely. Some of the petals were a little damp, so it must have been bought recently.  
"Where did you get that?" Lily asked, coming toward Rose. She was out of her work clothes and was back in normal ones.  
"Someone dropped it." Rose said quickly. Lily looked at her suspiciously. She turned her face to look at James as he and Ben, who were heading toward the door.  
"Who are they?" She asked, motioning to James and Ben.  
"Some guy and his pervy friend," Rose answered.  
Lily bit her lip and looked at the boys. "Were they annoying you, because I could have them kicked out of the Juicenet."  
Rose wondered if there was a way to tell her sister to only ban Ben, but she knew Lily would get the completely wrong idea from that. Lily might think she liked James or something crazy and entirely untrue like that. But all he had done was pretend he was from movies that Rose fell asleep just hearing about.  
"No. Its fine they were just lost. They're um… new around here." Rose said, trying to avoid her sisters glare.  
"Whatever you say, now let's go home." Lily headed towards the door and Rose followed. She had learned it was best just to do what her older sister asked.

Home was a two-story, simple and cleanly decorated house that the Collins had moved into right after Lily was born. Everything in the house was in its place and nothing ever seemed out of order.  
When Rose had been younger she had loved the dark furniture contrasting with the light colored sofas and the big glass windows.  
Now it was just cramping her style.  
Their dad was on a two-month business trip at the moment in Europe and the house felt a bit empty.  
Rose loved her dad, but ever since their mother and brother had been killed he had been kind of lost. He'd lose everything if Lily hadn't been there. Maybe this trip would help him regain a little of his sanity.  
"You want a vase for that?" Lily asked, shaking Rose out of her thoughts.  
"What?"  
"The rose." Lily pointed at Rose's right hand. Rose hadn't realized she was still holding the red rose.  
Rose smiled weakly at her sister. "Sure."  
Lily opened a cabinet in the kitchen and pulled out a vase. She filled it with water and scooted it across the counter top to Rose.  
"Thanks."  
Rose headed toward the top story up the stairs with the vase. She entered the long thin hallway filled with white doors.  
She found hers and headed in, placing the vase down on her desk. Rose sat on her bed and stared sadly across the room into the hall. The door to Lily's perfectly organized room was open.  
As far as room went, Rose and Lily's could be on opposite planets. Lily's was a perfect square and was painted a pale blue. Rose's room had a slope on the far side, which she liked because she could put posters on it, and the shape of her room was more rectangle than square. The walls were white because Rose's mom had said that she would paint them a few days after Rose's 10th birthday.  
And Lily wondered why Rose never wanted to paint her room.  
Rose let out a sigh and looked at the door next to Lily's. Well, half a door. She couldn't see the full thing with the door frame in the way. That room had been Elliot's.  
No one really went in there, except during the holidays because Elliot's room had a large closet where they stored holiday related decorations. Elliot hadn't used it when he was alive because he had liked to have all his toys spread around him.  
Rose gave another depressing sigh and flopped down on the messy and tangled red blanket on her bed. The slope was right above her bed but Rose had ripped down the only poster she had on it last week because she was too old to have a picture of a Panda starring at her.  
She turned to her right and looked out the window. She didn't have Lily's huge squar-ish windows, but she had her nice little round one with a view of the water. There was a larger window on a different wall but Rose always threw the curtains over it.  
Rose didn't really get why she had gotten the smallest room, but Lily said it was because Rose hadn't wanted Elliot's room because the closet was big and scary (Rose died many deaths while hearing this) and Lily had picked her own room out already.  
"Rose! Dinner is ready!" Lily screamed from downstairs.  
Rose got up and headed downstairs, calculating the chances of Lily letting her eat in her room. The answer: slim.  
Lily was seated at the table, tapping her fork absentmindedly on the edge of her plate. By the looks of the pancakes on her plate it was breakfast for dinner.  
Lily had made a chart on who got to pick what they had for dinner while their dad was gone. Rose picked every Sunday night, Lily picked every weekday, and Saturday they ordered out. Their dad had been gone a week and the plan chart had worked perfectly.  
Rose sat down and looked at her pancakes. Lily held her hands out triumphantly.  
"Well?"  
Rose nodded. "Yum."  
Lily frowned deeply. She didn't like seeing her sister so sad all the time. She and her dad had tried counseling, (Rose had answered 'I don't know' to every question), pets (Lily had read somewhere that pets were good for the soul but Rose had developed an allergy to her goldfish two weeks after having it), and making Rose's favorites (pancakes every night wasn't what Lily had in mind).  
Finally, after half a decade of trying, Lily and her dad had given up.  
Rose cut her pancake into quarters and poured syrup on it.  
Lily smiled and tried to engage her little sister into conversation. "There are volleyball tryouts at school tomorrow."  
When Rose was seven she and Lily had went to a volleyball class after school for a week. They had both loved it but Lily had been more focused on swimming, which had had to give up because the girls had discovered they were mermaids a while after. Lily thought volleyball would be a perfectly safe sport as long as Rose stayed away from her teammates water bottles.  
Rose nodded. "Yeah, cool."  
She took a bit of her pancake.  
Lily continued. "I think you should try out."  
Rose nearly choked on her pancake. "What?" she coughed a little after for a dramatic effect.  
"Volleyball, you're good at it." Lily stated. She looked at her sister who was shaking her head violently.  
Lily knew the conversation was over. She stirred her syrup around on her plate. At least she had tried.  
Rose got up and deposited her plate into the sink. "I'm going upstairs. I have English homework."  
Lily nodded.  
If there was one thing Rose cared about it was her English grade. Lily was a good student but Rose didn't care about any subject besides English, and Lily didn't really get it, until she had found piles of their mothers own written stories and poems in Rose's room. Her mom clearly had a gift with writing and Rose seemed to want to follow that.

*******

Rose sauntered down the hallway for her school, scanning the halls for her friend, Lewis.  
After a few more steps maneuvering around her classmates, she spotted him.  
Lewis was talking to a hassled looking Lily near a staircase. The breeze flowing through the air didn't seem to bother Lewis, but Lily was franticly trying to keep her long hair under control.  
"Hey." Rose said. She smiled at her friends.  
"Hey Rosie," Lewis said. "I've been making some real progress with my mermaid…"  
"Lower your voice, Lewis." Lily muttered between her teeth.  
"Um...I mean your condition. And I have to say that my involvement…"  
"You mean obsession?" Rose said. Lily giggled, pulling a stray piece of hair away from her eyes.  
Lewis rolled his eyes. "Whatever Rose." He looked at his watch. "Got to go."  
Lily and Rose watched Lewis walk away, adjusting his hat and steadying the massive amount of papers and books he had tucked under his arms.  
"We have got to get that boy a hobby." Rose snapped.  
Lily looked at Lewis. "That would be a good idea. But he means well." She smiled. "And he's sweet."  
Rose looked at Lily with a confused look on her face. "Sure. Well I've got to get going also...see you later." Rose waved and went down the hall to her next class: which happened to be English.  
Rose looked at her desk in the second row and gasped. She never had anyone seat behind her before; which her teacher had set up because Rose was the best student in the class and her teacher didn't want anyone taking advantage of that.  
Until today, that is.  
James Wood was sitting in the usually empty seat, looking down at his book.

* * *

_Hey guys, Kelly again! I know I told you Maddie would update with the next chapter, but she's on vacation with her family (lucky) until the 24th, so you'll be seeing a lot more of me from now on! :) (i'll also update both Fangbook, Caribanet & the next chapter next Sunday). _

_Hope you guys liked this chapter. Nothing going on that much. But get ready for the next chapter I'm writing (Chapter 5), a really HOT James/Rose scene near the end, that's all i can say...lol.  
Oh & I DID NOT write this chapter, it was ALL MADDIE! :) (her description ROCKS. Mine sucks, lol. I'm much better with dialogue). All I did with this chapter was just proofread & fix the ending a bit (to match my 3rd chapter)._

_Well once again, hope you liked this chapter! :)_

& please, more reviews would be nice. I want to see at least 10-20 reviews by next Sunday...hopefully you guys can make it happen.

_Well until next time, _

_xoxo,_

_Kelly_


	3. Chapter 3: Haikus & Thank Yous

****

Fangs & Fins  
Chapter 3: "Haikus & Thank Yous"

Rose just starred at the seat that James Wood now filled.

"What are you doing here?" Rose asked James who was now sitting directly behind her.

"I'm now in your English class." James explained to Rose.

Rose had no time for snide remarks. "Yes, I can see that, but why?"

"Because that's what it says on my schedule." James told Rose, handing his schedule over to Rose.

Rose didn't even glance at his schedule. What was the point? So she could see that he was in the same English class as her? No thanks.

"Well, then why are you sitting behind me?" Rose asked hating every minute James was sitting behind her.

"I don't know; she put me here randomly."

"Oh, cut the crap! You sat here just to talk to me!" Rose spoke, with anger in her tone.

"Rose Collins!"

Rose and James both looked up from their "conversation". Well, Rose wouldn't call it a conversation exactly. She didn't even want to be talking to James in the first place!

The person that yelled her name was Rose's teacher (and apparently now James!), Mrs. Frederick. She was Rose's favorite teacher for her favorite subject, English.

Rose has always been interested in English, ever since she found stacks and stacks of hand-written stories that her Mom had written. She had cried when she first read them. These stories were the last thing that Rose had that belonged to her Mom. That and the lockets Rose and Lily wore around their necks. Rose's was red and Lily's was white. Their mother, Violet, had a locket that had a purple gem in it, but unfortunately it was lost the day of her death.

"Rose!" Mrs. Frederick yelled again. "Are you listening to me?"

James tapped Rose's right shoulder from behind to get her attention.

Rose jumped back into reality.

"Yes, Mrs. Frederick?" Rose spoke, currently thinking of her now dead mother and brother. She will never let those memories go.

"Since you like talking today, you can show our new student here your haiku that is due today." Mrs. Frederick said.

Rose was shocked. Mrs. Frederick was never like this! But then again Rose has always been quiet, well-behaved, and Mrs. Frederick thought she turned in some of the best work.

"Um, ok." Rose quivered. Rose had never spoken in front of the class before. She usually just kept to herself and turned in her work. With each step she took, Rose's heart beat quickened. She could feel pairs of eyes staring at her every move. Rose looked out into her classmates and it seemed like the class doubled in size.

"Go on," Mrs. Frederick said, motioning her to continue.

Rose looked down at her haiku. The now simple words that she had spent hours on, was now a foreign language to Rose.

Rose started anyway, "S-s-he, is, um, all alone," with every word she stuttered more.

Rose could hear chuckles in the background.

Mrs. Frederick noticed this and tried to quiet them down.

With every second that Rose was up there, she got more and more discouraged to just run; leave this classroom.

Off in the audience, James knew he had to do something.

Rose barely even said a sentence. She was just about to give up and quit when she felt someone grab her haiku from her hands.

Rose looked up at the person that had grabbed her haiku to notice that that person was James Wood.

James read the haiku with so much clarity than Rose ever could.

"She was all alone. Her feelings mean nothing. Her life is nothing."

No one was chuckling anymore; the entire audience was paying attention, especially the girls.

When James was finished with the haiku, Rose leaned into James' ear and whispered, "Thank you."

James whispered back, "You're welcome."

After thank yous were said, Rose and James quickly took their seats; Rose quicker then James.

"Ok, well I would have liked Rose to deliver her haiku by herself, but it was nice of you, James, to step in," Mrs. Frederick said. "Now, anyone want to present theirs?"

********

It felt like agony to have to listen to the rest of the haikus her classmates presented. They were all mushy and lovey and had no real feeling to them, like Rose's had.

Suddenly, in the midst of the presentations, someone from behind her nudged her shoulder. Rose obviously knew this person was James. Who else sat behind her?

James whispered in her ear. "These haikus suck! Your's is way better."

Rose replied, "Yeah, I agree." Why was she talking to him? It seemed like whenever he opened his mouth she either smiled or replied to his ridiculous comments.

"What was yours about anyway? Being all alone? Can't stop thinking of the past?" James wondered.

He had to mention that. Rose didn't want to be a charity case so she simply said, "Nothing."

"Come on, it had to be about-"

"NOTHING!" Rose yelled, unaware presentations were still going on.

The entire class grew quiet.

"Rose Collins! What is wrong with you today?" Mrs. Frederick asked.

"Um, nothing. I'm fine," Rose responded. The memories were starting to come back again. Those wretched memories.

"Well please try to contain yourself." Mrs. Frederick explained to her.

Rose nodded. She was seriously going to yell at James.

Bing! The bell had rung and finally she could leave this classroom.

"I hate-" Rose started to say to James, turning around towards his desk.

But he was gone.

"-you?"

Apparently James had really wanted out of that class, because he was nowhere in sight.

But there was one thing Rose noticed on James' desk.

A single red rose.

Rose had figured out who was sending her these roses. James Wood.

Rose was disgusted. James liking her?

She grabbed the delicate flower, brought it to the nearest trash can and threw it in the trash with no regrets.

She walked towards her desk, grabbed her lunch, backpack and purse and headed out of there.

_I can't believe James is the one giving me all these roses. Wait, if I don't like this guy, then why am I smiling?_ Rose thought, a smile appearing on her face.

* * *

_Hey guys, it's Kelly...again! :) So what do you think of this chapter? (i wrote it). I personally don't like the ending all that much. I really didn't want Rose to figure out the 'rose' thing that quickly, but it fits with what happens next. That's about it. Oh & PLEASE review! :) We only have 12 reviews TOTAL! :(  
You guys can promote "Fangs & Fins" anyway you can! :)_

_that's all for now,_

_Kelly_


	4. Chapter 4: Lunch & Lab Partners

**Fangs & Fins  
Chapter 4: "Lunch & Lad Partners"**

Rose made it through two classes and lunch without seeing James. She focused all her energy on trying to figure out escape plans so he wouldn't engage her in conversation. She was so focused she didn't hear Lily and Lewis arranging plans for the full moon at the end of the week.  
"Well be a little bit safer now because Dads away, but we still have to be careful," Lily said, taking a bite of sandwich. "We don't want a repeat of last month." She looked at Rose accusingly.  
Last full moon Rose had seen the moon in a reflection on a compact mirror and had turned the tap water on when her sister and Lewis weren't looking. Lily and Rose had both gained tails for the night and Lewis had had to do a lot of explaining to their Dad.  
Rose didn't notice Lily's glare and kept looking behind her. Lily shook her head.  
"Maybe if you two just went to bed early with the windows covered up you'd be alright." Lewis suggested. Lily thought over the comment carefully and made a decision. "Okay. We'll try that. Lewis, find out when the moon rises. Rose, don't make any plans Friday night."  
Rose stood up. "I have to get to Chemistry." She grabbed her lunch and chucked it in the garbage and headed off.  
Lewis and Lily exchanged glances. Rose was usually the last one to leave after lunch because her Chemistry class was only a few feet away.  
"Okay," Lily said. She gathered up her stuff and slung her bag over her shoulder.  
Lewis stayed sitting and stared after Rose. "She's been acting kind of...weird. Don't you think?" He looked at Lily.  
"She was never normal to start with but she isn't acting Rose like." She agreed. :Just give her a day or so. Everyone is a little tired on Monday and she was up late last night." Lily knew the part about Rose staying up late wasn't true but she didn't want Lewis to worry about Rose. That was her job. Plus Lewis was making full moon preparations and Lily wanted him to focus on that.  
Lewis walked over the garbage and dumped the remains of his lunch into it. "Huh." He said, peering inside.  
"What?" Lily asked.  
"Someone threw away a red rose."  
Wasn't there something about Rose and red roses?  
Probably nothing, she thought. Lily said goodbye to Lewis and headed off towards her next class.

Rose and Lewis sat at their lab station, waiting for the bell to ring. Lewis was the perfect lab partner. He made sure she didn't have to touch water. Bur judging by the two new members to their class this might change.  
James and a tall blond girl were talking to their teacher. He nodded as they talked. He pointed the girl in the direction of an empty table and brought James over to Rose and Lewis.  
"Rose." Your English Teacher tells me you've been partnered with James in her class and she feels that being with someone he knows would benefit him. He will be your partner. Lewis, you can sit next to Jewel."  
"Crap". Rose mouthed at Lewis. He nodded.  
James sat down next to Rose in Lewis's empty seat. "Hey partner."  
Rose looked away. Lewis was across the room with the blond girl, Jewel. She had dark brown eyes and her blond hair fell perfectly down her back. With the shorts, pink top, and silver belt resting on her torso, she looked just like all the other girls Rose hated around here. Lewis was looking out the window, trying to avoid Jewels flirtatious smiles. The bell rang and their teacher stood up. "Today we are working with Copper Sulfate."  
Rose looked at the thick blue liquid in front on her.  
He went on. "When the moisture in Copper Sulfate evaporates it creates crystals. Just take some observations before we put them away to evaporate for a while. We won't see them again for a while." There was a smirk on her teacher's face, which always meant they were doing something he loved but that Rose thought was pointless. Waiting for weeks to make worthless little crystals. It was just like the Rock Candy Maker she and Lily had gotten when they were little. It was a waste of time and it didn't taste good.  
James was quickly jotting down facts while Rose spaced out. She sighed and wrote down the basics:  
-Dark blue  
-Thick  
-Looks Sticky  
"Make sure to put on your goggles! Copper Sulfate can damage your eyes!"  
Rose put on a pair of the eye safety glasses and tried to think of what to put next.  
She glanced at James's paper. He had about half a page of full sentenced notes.

James picked up a stray scalpel and stuck it into his and Rose's bowl of Copper Sulfate. James brought the liquid closer to his face and examined it closely.

Rose scooted her stool closer to James so she could look at the Copper Sulfate. But she caught James a bit of good and he slammed the knife into his eye. Rose gasped, while James covered his eye and rushed out into the hallway.

Rose followed James out into the hall.

"You alright?" She asked him. James nodded and removed his hand from his eye. It looked perfect fine.

"Um…yeah," James rushed back inside.

Rose thought about this. She was certain he had stabbed himself in the eye.

"Drama Queen," She muttered, following James back inside.

* * *

_Maddie here! Sorry this is a bit late, my internet was down today. If you go to our profile you can find links to the Fangs & Fins website, Fangbook! Make sure to REVIEW! (I apologize for any spelling/grammar errors, I'm a terrible speller. It's a curse I tell you!)_

_-Maddie_

_PS. Did you know that if you hit the synonym button for "scalpel", "stiletto" is one of the options? That totally made my day. :)_


	5. Chapter 5: Love is but a pinprick

**Fins & Fangs**

**Chapter 5: "Love is but a pinprick" **

Rose was in shock as to what just happened. In fact, she didn't even know what just happened.  
Rose and James were now in the hallway, Rose unaware what was going on with James.  
"Ok, so what's your deal?" Rose asked James.  
"It's nothing." James explained, saying what Rose had said earlier in English.  
Rose and James didn't realize this, but they were being watched; by Lily.  
_What's she doing talking to that boy?_ Lily thought. _It seems like they are talking a lot._  
Lily noticed Lewis walking out of the Chemistry lab, also staring at Rose talking to that boy. Lily grabbed Lewis' hand and pulled him towards her direction.  
"Whoa, awkward." Lewis commented, after noticing the position they were in.  
Lily pushed him away and let go of his hand. "Sorry."  
"It's ok." Lewis responded.  
Lily took a look at James and Rose who seemed to be bickering about something. "Say, do you know the guy that Rose is speaking to now?"  
Lewis looked in the same direction and noticed that Rose and James were heading off in the opposite directions. "Oh, him. That's James Wood, aka: Rose's new lab partner."  
Lily's mouth dropped. Lily knew that Lewis was originally her partner (so he could keep an eye on Rose and so she could steer clear of water).  
Lewis noticed Lily's expression. "It's ok, he seems nice. Strange, but nice. Today, we were doing an experiment and it seemed like he got a knife stuck in his eye."  
"And he's still ok?" Lily asked, knowing that sticking in inanimate object in your eye, could obviously do major damage.  
"Yeah, he is. It's weird." Lewis said.  
"No, it isn't," a voice from behind Lily spoke. The voice seemed very masculine and deep.  
Curious as to see who was behind her, Lily turned around.  
What she found was a tall boy (very good looking), around her age, to be staring her in the face.  
Lewis took this as his cue to leave. "I'll catch ya later, Lil." Lewis then scurried off to his next class.  
As soon as Lewis was out of earshot, Lily continued talking to this stranger about the mysterious new boy James. "Ok, so what's so strange about James? And second, who are you?" Lily asked. She had no idea who this guy was, and he was talking to her like they had been longtime friends like her and Lewis.  
The boy responded, his hazel eyes shining in the lights, "First off, my name's Ash, I'm in your English class and Rose's math class."  
As soon as he had said his name, Lily recognized him. He was that guy in the back that drew swords in his notebook. Lily always found him a bit strange. But now that she looked at him, she realized that he looked a bit like that guy on that one show Rose watched, "Legend of the Seeker". Not that Lily watched that show with her younger sister (although she may have glanced during the shirtless scenes).  
"Oh yeah, I've seen you in my classes before." Lily said trying to release the tension, which was currently between them.  
"Yeah, I just said that." Ash said, his voice filled with annoyance. "Anyway, just watch out for James Wood." And after uttering James' name, he was off faster than a roadrunner.  
Lily was completely confused, but not as confused as Rose was when she walked up to Lily, just seconds after Ash had left her.  
"Hey, Lil, what's up?" Rose said a smiling spreading across her face (which Lily found quite peculiar).  
"Hey," Lily, figured it'd be best if she came right out with it, "so what's the deal with that James Wood guy?"  
At the mention of his name, Rose's expression turned from a smile into a very unpleasant expression. "I was hoping we wouldn't have this conversation." Rose muttered.  
"So, who is he?" Lily spoke; curious as to this new person that was in Rose's life.  
"He's no one, just this guy that keeps annoying the living daylights out of me." Rose answered.  
"Why?"  
"Because, he goes from being the sweetest, most perfect guy, to being the most arrogant, and mysterious loser that is every male of this school." Rose quickly put her hand over her mouth. She knew she had said too much. _Now Lily suspects that there is something going on between James and I, which their totally isn't,_ Rose thought.  
Lily understood that Rose liked this James character. It was written all over Rose's face. The smile, the glimmer in her eyes, even the way she spoke. "So, what do you and this 'James' guy talk about?"  
Rose was not going to begin discussing the very confusing and utterly annoying ways of James Wood to her sister; she didn't even want to think about James Wood. "Nothing, we don't really talk much." Rose uttered, speaking more rapidly each passing word.  
"Ok well, just try and be careful with this guy. I've heard things about him." Lily repeated to her younger sister what Ash had just told her.  
"What kind of things?" Rose said, curious.  
"I'm not sure. Just be careful, promise?"  
"Ok, I promise." Rose said with skepticism.  
Then there was an awkward pause between the two blondes and Rose gave this as her chance for an exit. "Well, I'll see you at home, Lily." Rose said, all smiles again.  
"Ok, Rose." Lily called back. "I just hope she'll be alright in the end," Lily spoke to herself.

The rest of the day went by kind of quickly. That's simply because Rose didn't have any distractions or any unordinary occurrences from James Wood. He didn't even show up at her locker. Instead someone else did.  
"Hey Rose! Oh man, I am SO excited! Guess what I'm doing afterschool?" Charlotte Watsford squealed in her usual too high-pitched voice of hers (which Rose always found quite annoying).  
Rose figured the faster she replies, the faster Charlotte would be gone. "I don't know what?" Rose's tone didn't show the least bit of excitement or happiness; just boredom and monotone.  
"Ok, well…Ben Wood." Charlotte let out an even higher pitched then usual squeal after she spoke of Ben Wood.  
Rose tried to act excited for her. "Oh, that's great." Rose's smile, 100% fake.  
"He's just so dreamy and daring and…"  
"Perfect?"  
Rose looked up from her red messenger bag (which she was stuffing papers and books into) to see Ben Wood staring right at her.  
Another fake smile was approaching. "Hi…Ben…"  
Charlotte seemed to love Ben's presence though. "Hi Ben! I'm so excited for tonight!"  
"Oh, I bet you are," Ben said under his breath. "Now, Charlotte, mind giving Rose and I some alone time?"  
Charlotte went from high-pitched to low-pitched, expression included, "Oh, sure; no problem."  
Charlotte sulked her way from Rose's locker.  
That just left Rose and the Perv.  
"Hey Rose."  
"Yeah, hi. What exactly do you want, Ben?" Rose was not up for Ben's games and Rose needed to catch up to Lily and Lewis.  
"Well, Rose, I was wondering if you wanted to stop over at my house tonight."  
"Ben, you don't get it do you? What I said at the café, I meant it. I don't want anything to do with you, ever." Rose was sick with the Wood brothers. What was their deal?  
Ben crept up closer to Rose. "Well, that's too bad." Ben was now ruffling wisps of her hair and smelling her neck. "I knew we would have had a great time together."  
Rose was incredibly uncomfortable. She pushed Ben off of her. "What is your problem?"  
"Is there a problem here?"  
Rose had noticed that the second Wood brother, James, had appeared.  
Rose knew that she could take care of herself without any help. "No. Nothing that needs your help."  
"Yeah man, Rose and I were just talking." Ben explained.  
James knew what his brother was doing. To Ben, Rose was just a meal, but to James, she was more. "Ben, I suggest you leave…now!" James knew that his brother would leave to avoid people staring and anything that would hurt his reputation (or the reputation he thought he had). And Ben did.  
But Rose found it better when Ben was here, cause then she wasn't left alone with James.  
_Let the awkwardness begin_, Rose thought.  
"I hope he didn't hurt you at all," James said.  
"No, just creped me out a bit." Rose felt a little easier, since she knew that James would not harm her.  
"Well, if he ever does, let me know. I'll tell him off." James said.  
Rose was surprised by James' words. "Thanks, that's really nice of you."  
"Hey, I do what I can." James joked.  
Rose chuckled. The chuckle followed a smile.  
"Has anyone ever told you that you have a great smile?" James asked.  
Rose covered her mouth; she was not good with compliments. "No, that's because I don't smile much."  
"Well, you should." James said.  
And without a 'goodbye', James was gone, leaving Rose at her locker.  
Rose shut her locker, having had gotten everything out of her locker that she needed for the night. Rose usually just walked straight out to meet Lewis and Lily. But something stopped her from doing her usual routine.  
That's because Rose noticed something that was in the front of her locker.  
It was yet another rose.  
"Where does he get these?" Rose asked herself. "And why me?'

Many people would think that James' house would look like a old deserted mansion, but many would be surprised to find that it looks like any ordinary house in the Gold Coast of Australia. Well, until you walked inside anyway. Every object and item consists of some short of dark shade (black, gray, you name it); especially James' room. All four of his walls were black and he had no windows (as to not expose the sun). Everything in his room was dark, not even neutral colors. But his room was the one place where he could escape to, where no one would disturb him.  
_Knock! Knock_!  
James groaned at the now interrupted silence. "Come in!"  
The door opened and non-other than his brother, Ben, was standing outside the doorway. "Hey, bro, what's up?"  
James was not in the mood for chitchat, "Nothing much, now could you please leave?"  
Ben walked into his room anyway (without James' permission). "Now, is that any way to treat a family member?"  
"No, only you," James muttered under his breath.  
"What?"  
"Nothing," James decided it was best to change the subject. "So, where is Charlotte, I thought she was coming over today." James peered at his watch and it was almost 10:30.  
Ben's smile turned into a mischievous grin, "Oh, she _was_ here."  
James understood what that meant. That Charlotte was no longer Charlotte. To Ben she was just a meal, as every girl that walks within a two feet radius of him; including, James shuddered, _Rose_.  
"Oh, come on, don't be such a wuss. You'd understand if you drank humans' blood, too. But since you're a veg-head, I guess you don't know that feeling."  
"Ok Ben, get out…now!" James said, getting angrier by the minute.  
"Fine, I'm out of here." Ben scurried out the door and away from James.  
James lay on his bed, wondering about someone. And no, that someone wasn't Rose. He closed his eyes and imagined a girl of ten with blonde curls and ocean blue eyes.  
This has been all he's ever thought about and dreamt about since he first saw her.  
But his thoughts were interrupted again by another knock at the door.  
"WHAT!?" James roared, fed up with these interruptions. He looked up to see a scared Constance standing in the middle of his doorway. His expression immediately changed. "Oh, I'm sorry, Constance, what's up?"  
James always was there for Constance. She wasn't like the others. She was fairly new to the family. She wasn't born a vampire; she was turned into a vampire at the mere age of 17. And that was three years ago.  
James always felt sorry for her. Unlike her, James could age (because he was born a vampire). Poor Constance had to live the age of seventeen forever.  
"I didn't mean to disturb you." Constance explained.  
James smiled. "No, it's fine."  
"Well, I was wondering if you had any pouches of blood lying around." Constance asked.  
Also, unlike the others, Constance and James didn't drink from humans. Instead, they drank either pouches of blood that James stole from hospitals or from defenseless animals in forests (but that was a rarity).  
James pulled a pouch of blood out from his desk and threw it to Constance.  
"Here, I don't have many left though." James told her.  
"Oh, one's good. Thanks." Constance said.  
"No problem." James was always there to help out his little sister (although in reality she would be older than James).  
Constance left his room satisfied.  
James went back to his thoughts of the mysterious little girl he's always dreamt about. Tonight he has got to find her.

Rose pulled the covers over her.  
_Nighttime, great_, she thought to herself. She hated the night, because every night she dreamt about that awful day, the day her mother and brother were killed.  
Hopefully when she woke up tomorrow, it won't be because of a nightmare.  
She quickly looked at a picture frame that was right next to her on her nightstand. The picture was of her entire family (her mother and Elliot included) the day of the fair, moments before the accident. She grabbed the picture and kissed it. This was a ritual she did every night, she didn't care if it was childish or gross, that picture meant a lot to her, it was the last picture her mother ever took.  
She set the picture aside and tried to sleep.

Later on, James was going crazy. He had to find the girl. He just had no idea how.  
He finally had a solution.  
_I'll just think of the girl and maybe I can transport myself there. Then I can finally see her again_, James thought.  
James quickly rummaged through his desk drawer and found what he was looking for; the purple gemmed locket that he found that day.  
He held the locket in his hands, closed his eyes, and tried to imagine the girl: the curly blonde hair, ocean blue eyes, and sad expression. He remembered it all.  
He felt himself being taken from his room and going to the destination he hoped the girl would be.  
Vampires can transport themselves anywhere they possible desire. The only downside is every time they transport it leaves huge puffs of smoke.  
He opened his eyes and he was somewhere different. He just didn't know where exactly.  
He was in a dark bedroom, nothing seemed familiar to him.  
He looked to the right of him and noticed a bed. But that bed had someone in it.  
James glanced at this sleeping beauty. She seemed familiar, but all he could see right now was her curly blonde hair (because she was on her side).  
But then quickly and suddenly, she shifted her position. Now she was lying on her back.  
James looked at her again and realized who it was. Rose.  
_Why am I at Rose's house, in her bedroom?_ He thought.  
He noticed a picture frame on her nightstand and picked it up. He recognized where it was taken immediately. It was the day of the fair, when he saw, _her_.  
He peered at everyone in the picture and stopped when he saw her, the girl. In this picture, she wasn't sad at all. She seemed like the happiest girl in the world.  
James smiled at her happiness. It was nice to see her smile for once, having had those only memories of the girl crying and expressions full of fear.  
That was when he glanced down towards her neck and noticed a necklace. The same necklace he currently held in his hands, except hers was red.  
_Where have I seen that before?_ James thought.  
He glanced at Rose who was still sleeping quietly and peacefully in her bed.  
He moved towards her, getting closer and closer towards her neck. He noticed the exact necklace that was in the picture was on Rose.  
"Rose is the mysterious girl," James muttered.  
He touched the necklace on Rose's neck very carefully. He just couldn't believe it.  
He glanced up from the necklace towards Rose's face. She was so beautiful. So beautiful in fact that she made Sleeping Beauty look ugly.  
James thought everything was ok, until he glanced down at her neck again.  
Her neck was visible to him.  
He moved closer and closer to her neck, the smell of her scent getting stronger and stronger the move he moved towards her.  
His fangs were now mere centimeters away from her neck. With one swift move he could kill her. That was something he didn't want.  
He forced himself off of her, accidently knocking the picture frame to the ground.  
He had to get out of there. The longer he spent there, the more likely chances Rose would end up dead.  
He quickly transported out of there, leaving huge puffs of smoke in the process.  
These puffs of smoke set off the fire alarm which woke up Rose.

Rose woke up suddenly. "What the…" she said, tiredly. She woke up too quickly and this caused surging pain towards her neck. She graced her fingers along her neck. The left side seemed to be more in pain then the right. She wondered why that was. She ignored it for the moment.  
She got out of her bed and looked at the damage below her feet.  
She noticed her nightstand table was knocked down and the picture frame was shattered and broken.  
"No." she mustered.  
"Why is the fire alarm off? Rose did you burn something?" Lily shouted over the loud blaring noise while coming in Rose's room.  
"I didn't do anything, now quit yelling and start helping." Rose tried picking up all the pieces of glass, trying not to hurt herself in the process.  
"How did this happen?" Lily asked, reaching over to help.  
"I don't know, I woke up to it." Rose said, tears coming to her eyes.  
"Rose it's ok; it's just a picture frame." Lily said, trying to calm her younger sister down.  
"No, it's not. It's the last picture of Mom and Elliot." Rose cried.  
Lily picked up the last remaining pieces of glass, and held up the picture in her hands. "Rose, its fine, nothing happened to the picture, fortunately. We'll get a new picture frame tomorrow for you."  
Rose nodded. She knew she was just being paranoid and overreacting, but she didn't care. Her neck was throbbing ten times worse as it was previously now. She held up her hand to the left side of her neck. She took her hand off of it and noticed a red liquid was now on her hands.  
"Oh my god Rose, you're bleeding." Lily gasped.  
Rose stared down at her hand; the red liquid was certainly blood.  
She ran down the hall into the bathroom and gazed at her reflection in the mirror.  
She noticed on the left side of her neck, blood was dripping down her neck. She grabbed a piece of toilet paper to wipe away the blood.  
When all the remaining blood was wiped off, more blood was appearing at what Rose thought was two pinprick size wounds.  
Rose had no clue what was happening. All she knew was that something very strange just happened.

* * *

_Hey guys it's Kelly. Long chapter isn't it? I had a lot to write about..haha. I love this chapter. Well there are things I love but hate, like how i described some stuff..oh well. haha. Hope you guys like it! :)_


	6. Chapter 6: Hugsy the Bedtime Penguin Pal

**Fangs & Fins**

**Chapter 6: "Hugsy, the Bedtime Penguin Pal"**

Every day after school, Constance Wood would drop her back pack on the floor and head for the couch. Today she shed her coat as well as her back pack. It had been surprisingly cold today and she'd seen the kids in her classes wearing coats, hats—and even scarves. Constance had seen a brightly colored one around James's friend Rose's neck. It had made her smile. It didn't fit Rose's personality.

She sat down on the couch and flicked on the TV, opened up the DVR and to see which _Friends _episode had been recorded last night.

In this episode, Phoebe sees Monica and Chandler fooling around through a window. Rachel and Joey also know, and Joey desperately wants to confront Monica and Chandler—but Rachel and Phoebe want to mess with them instead. Joey insists that they must tell them, and says that he has enough secrets and doesn't need to keep anyone else.

Rachel: You don't have any secrets!

Joey: Yes I do! Like Hugsy, my Bedtime Penguin Pal!

Constance cracked a feeble grin. She couldn't laugh—she hadn't in years. She grabbed the fabric that covered the Wood's couch.

A few scenes later, Joey was sitting in a chair cuddling with none other than Hugsy the Bedtime Penguin Pal! Constance couldn't' help it—she let out the smallest giggle, praying that no one had heard her.

But James did. He opened the door, frantically and slammed it behind him. "What are you laughing at?"

Constance paused the program and spun around from her seat on the couch to look at him. "Where were you last night?"

James froze in his tracks. "Just out and about," James removed his coat and turned his attention towards the TV screen. "What's that?" He asked.

"Hugsy," Constance told him. She looked at James and smiled. "Do you know if there is a store where you can buy stuffed animals?"

James nodded. "I'm guessing that you want to a Hugsy of your own? Just because you smiled for the first time in like, a month, I'll go get you a Hugsy."

James put his coat back on and headed out the door.

--

Lewis was walking, minding his own business. The wind was blowing rapidly around him. He stuck his hands in his pockets and looked down at his feet and shuddered.

Smack! A navy-colored blur slapped into him. Lily Collins had smacked into him, distracted by a piece of paper she was holding.

"Hi," she said, smiling.

Lewis realized that he was holding Lily around the waist. He quickly let her go.

"So, what are you doing here?" She asked.

Lewis looked at the store they were standing in front of. It was a drugstore. "Oh, I'm just passing by."

Lily looked at the piece of paper in her hands. "I need to get some things. Rose got a weird cut on her neck last night. Think you could help me out?"

Lewis nodded and followed her into the drugstore.

Lily let him hold the shopping basket while she dumped miscellaneous disinfectant products and large Band-Aids.

"How big was the cut?"

"It was like two little cuts, but widely spaced apart. That's why I need such big Band-Aids."

Lewis nodded.

Lily paid for the Band-Aids, said goodbye to Lewis, and walked away. She looked back over her shoulder and waved.

_Sometimes it's hard to move forward without looking back_.

--

An hour later, Rose was walking down the same street Lewis was. She was still wearing a scarf around her neck to hide the embarrassingly large Band-Aid Lily had applied over her cut. Rose was planning on going to the Juice Net and ordering a large Hot Chocolate, when she saw James stepping out of a toy shop carrying a large stuffed penguin.

"James?" Rose asked him, heading towards the shop.

"Rose," James said. "Oh, this for my sister, Constance."

Rose raised and eyebrow. "I'd like to meet her."

James ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah, sure. Right this way."

--

James's house wasn't too far away from the center of town. It looked completely normal on the outside, but inside Rose felt like she's stepped into an old black and white movie. Well black and gray movie.

Constance Wood was sitting on the couch, watching TV. She was braiding strands of her long dark hair together.

"Hey, Constance." James said. "This is my er, friend. Rose."

"Hi," Rose said. Constance waved.

James passed Constance the stuffed animal and she absolutely beamed.

"Listen," James said. "I have a favor. If you tutor me in English, I'll tutor you in Chemistry."

Rose thought over the pros and cons. Pros: She'd get help in English. She'd get to spend time with James—wait that wasn't a Pro! Of course not. Cons: They're really weren't any.

"Okay," Rose stated. "You have yourself a deal. My house. 4:00 tomorrow. I'll give you directions tomorrow at school."

Ben walked into the room, combing his hair. "Hey Rose. If you were homework, I'd do you right now, but I'm a little busy."

Rose rolled her eyes. James growled. Constance played with Hugsy.

Rose flounced out, playing with the ends of her brightly colored scarf.

"Dude, you are so lucky."

"Ben, shut up."

* * *

_Hi, Maddie here! :) Through it's a bit early, on Cariba Net (.) we have a monthly "Full Moon Madness" celebration and this is our July goodie. Once again, sorry about spelling. Especially in this chapter because I'm having problems with my hand and it's a bit difficult to type. So sorry! _

_Please, please, please, please review!_

_And visit FANGBOOK! (link in our profile)_


	7. Chapter 7: Blasts from the Past

**Fangs & Fins**

**Chapter 8: "Blasts from the Past"**

Lewis drummed his pencil on his desk. Only five minutes left of English class then he could escape into the hallway. Not like that was really a good thing but it was better than being stuck at a desk.

Lewis sighed and looked out the window. He saw a few people outside having a Science lesson. Lily was standing next to a tall guy that surprisingly looked a lot like that guy from Legend of the Seeker. What was his name again? Whatever. Lewis really didn't care that much. Lily's hair was blowing around her face and it reminded Lewis of something that had accrued a few months ago…

_Lily's hair was blowing everywhere around her face. Lewis was laughing simply because of how silly she looked. He leaned against a large rock that were commonly found along the beach shoreline and waited for Lily to join him. She leaned against the rock and looked away. _

"_How are things with Rose?" Lewis had asked. _

_Lily turned to face him. "How they've been for the past six years."_

_Lewis frowned. He knew how that was. He knew even more how Lily hated it._

"_I don't really know how I feel about it anymore. If that's how she's going to be than I'll have to live with it. I just don't know how I feel!"_

"_Uh, yeah." Lewis muttered.  
Lily's lips crept up into a smile. "But I do know how I feel about something,"_

"_What's that?" Lewis asked her. Homework? Child Labor? Day-Time television?_

"_I know how I feel about you." Lily said, before leaning in and kissing him…_

Bring! The bell rang and Lewis rubbed his eyes. He really shouldn't be thinking about those things.

But there you have it: the one innocent little kiss that had caused him and Lily to strike up a relationship. They'd liked each other for years but we're both too timid to say anything. Truly and honestly, Lewis wished his was still in that relationship. He hadn't done anything wrong, had he?

Lewis excited the English room and headed down the hallway. He was so distracted by his post-relationship blues that he bumped into a girl who just happened to be carrying a ton of papers, books, and notebooks.

"I'm sorry," Lewis said, scooping up papers.

The girl didn't say anything. She just picked up her things and stood up.

"I'm Lewis Williams," Lewis said.

"Constance Wood," The girl stuttered.

Lewis shook her hand and she smiled. "Well, um, I've got to go. But I'll see you around, okay?"

Constance nodded and waved, her face glowing, her heart pounding, her smile enormous.

Maybe she had a reason to live after all.

--

"Hey Rosie! I lost my teddy bear—can I sleep with you instead?" Ben Wood questioned Rose. Rose shoved a book into her locker, crushing some papers in the process. "Go do the world a favor and drown yourself."

"You are so sassy sometimes!" Ben said, smirking. He walked away—well strutted but whatever.

Lewis came over to Rose. "Hey,"

"Hi. Could you do me a favor and kill that kid?" She pointed at Ben. "He's such a sleaze."

"I would, but I have History now." Lewis responded.  
Rose groaned. "I have English."

Lewis gave Rose a supporting smile and went on his way to History. The History room was on a different floor and would take him a minute or two to reach it.

On his way down the stairs he saw Lily talking to the boy he'd seen while he was looking out the window of his English class moments ago. She waved goodbye to him and went to greet Lewis.

Lewis motioned to the boy who was walking away. "Is there something going on between you two?"

Lily sent him a look and clutched her books closer to her side. "He asked me out. I can see where this is going Lewis. It's hard to move forward if you keep looking back."

Lewis shrugged. "I like looking back. It had a nice view."

They parted ways while Lily went to her locker before meeting up again in History.

"What did you say?" Lewis asked her, when she was a few steps away from her locker.

Lily spun around to look at him "I turned him down."

"Why?"

She bit her lip. "You know the answer to that."

Then she skipped away.

--

Lewis watched Ben Wood sit in the desk in front of him. Ben had taken his seat next to Lily and Lewis was ticked. A minute before class started, Ben took out some money. Lewis couldn't see how much it was worth because Ben was writing on it.

Ben ripped the bill in half and handed one of the two pieces to Lily. "Call me tonight, so we can figure out how we're going to spend that money."

Lily reached over and slammed the money on Ben's desk. "I already know how to spend it. On some pepper spray."

Ben sighed and tried again. He looked at the shredded money. "Whoops. Looks like I'm a little low on cash. Mind if we share a car home?"

"Get lost," Lily muttered.

The bell rang and their teacher looked up from her desk and began the lesson. Lily was taking detailed notes when Ben reached over and ran a hand up and down her leg. Lily froze. Her hand went rigged and she dropped her pencil.

Lewis kicked the back of Ben's desk. Ben tumbled out of his seat and onto the floor. Everyone laughed at Ben. He looked around at who possibly could have done it.

Lily turned around in her seat and smiled at him. "Thanks," She whispered.

"Welcome," Lewis whispered right back.

--

Rose's English class was less eventful. Mostly they read poems and took notes. James and Rose chatted a bit but besides that the class was boring. A minute before the bell rang, Rose's phone vibrated in her pocket. She slid it under the table and read the message. It was from her dad.

_Hey Rosie! I'm in France right now. Say hi to everyone for me. Love you, Dad._

Rose responded with a quick reply before stuffing her phone in her pocket. The bell rang and Rose collected her things and sprinted toward the door and out into the hallway.

"Rose!" James called after her.

"What?" Rose asked.

"I need directions to your house. You know, to study?"

"Oh." Rose quickly gave him directions to her house.

"Thanks," James muttered. He flashed a smile. Rose felt her heart skip a beat. James headed down the hall, waving hello to Ben and Constance. Constance caught Rose's attention and waved. Rose couldn't help but to way back. When Constance looked away, Rose smiled as she looked at James walked away from her. She couldn't help that either.

* * *

_Hi, it's Maddie I'm updating with this chapter (the format is a bit strange...hum. It seems to keep skipping lines. I'll work on that. My version of Word is stupid so that might be it) to let you all know that Kelly and are planning a **CONTEST**! That's right! So please review--because the more reviews we get the faster the contest will come! _

_**MAKE SURE TO VISIT FANBOOK!** There is a link in our profile! If you click on the 'Fun' tab, you can take a quiz to see which Fangs & Fins character you're most like! We'd love to know your result! So far, the majority of people have gotten Constance (including Kelly and myself) but if you get another result we'd like to know. :)_

_Hopefully this chapter should clear up any Lily/Lewis confusion anyone had--I hope no one had any, but still. Ben is so naughty, haha. _

_Oh, and the return of Hugsy? Yay or Nay? _

_-Maddie_


	8. Chapter 8: Learning, Healing, & Secrets

**Fangs & Fins  
****Chapter 8: "Learning, Healing and Secrets"**

The doorbell rang and Rose knew who that would be: James for their tutor session today. _Oh, joy; bring on the excitement_, Rose thought to herself as she inched closer to the doorknob. _Why did I even let him talk me into this?_ Rose also thought. Rose now opened the door and was not surprised to see James standing in the middle of the doorway.  
"James, hi," Rose spoke. She clearly didn't want to do this whole tutoring thing, but hey she really needed to raise her chemistry grade (otherwise Rose would never hear the end of it from Lily). "Find the house ok?"  
"Yeah, thanks for the directions by the way." James responded.  
Rose then realized then that James was still standing outside, so she offered for him to come in, which he did.  
James looked around at the contents of Rose's house, "Nice place you got here."  
"Um, thanks." Rose was terrible with conversations; especially with people she didn't know that well…or in James' case: didn't want to know. "Ok, so ready to get this whole tutoring thing over with and done with?"  
"You make it sound like you don't want me here." James said, a smile spreading upon his face.  
_I really don't actually_, Rose thought. But that was one thing she couldn't say out loud. But still there was a part of her that wanted him here, she wasn't sure why. "Well, I just don't want to spend actual time studying Chemistry."  
James chuckled. "You really hate that class don't you?"  
"Yes," Rose responded.  
"Well, maybe with this whole tutoring thing, you won't hate it so much." James said.  
"Let's hope so." Rose smiled. _Ok, what's with the smiling?_ Rose thought. "Ok, let's get on with the tutoring. We can do it in my room." Rose started heading up the stairs towards her room.  
James followed.  
When they reached Rose's room, James acted like he hadn't seen her room before, when in fact he had. But James had never seen it in the light, only that one time in the dark.  
He looked around and noticed what was in room didn't fit her personality at all. White walls, nothing that screamed 'Rose'. "Your room is um…nice."  
"Yeah, I know it's a little boring and plain."  
"Yeah, and it's not exactly you." James said, hoping that it was insulting to Rose.  
"It's a long story." Rose explained.  
James realized he needed to drop this conversation.  
"Shoot, I forgot my Chemistry textbook and English stuff downstairs, I'll be right back." Rose quickly exited her room to gather her things.  
James was left in Rose's room. James was looking around at Rose's room. He spotted the same picture of Rose when she was little sitting on her nightstand, except in a different frame. _Wonder why that is_, James thought. James didn't want to snoop around her room; he was a guest after all. But he couldn't help but leave her room to explore the hallway, curious as to what the other rooms were filled with. He looked out into the hallway and noticed that every door was open except for one. This made James even more curious as to what was behind the door. His curiosity got the better of him as he reached closer and closer towards the door.  
The minute his hand embraced the doorknob Rose shouted, "What are you doing?"  
He removed his hand from the doorknob. "Oh nothing, I just wondered why this door was closed is all."  
Rose seemed furious."Well, you really shouldn't be poking your head in where it shouldn't belong."  
"You're right and I'm sorry, whose room is that anyway?" James asked, hoping to get an answer.  
No such luck.  
"None of your business!" Rose shouted.  
"Right, sorry, shouldn't have asked."  
James knew this tutoring session wasn't going to go well.  
He wasn't totally right. The tutoring session was somewhat of a success. Rose actually managed to learn a thing or two about Chemistry, which surprised James. But it was strictly professional, nothing fun about this tutoring session.  
James had thought that Rose would let her guard down if she was in somewhere where she was comfortable. Guess not.  
They were now on English and Rose was explaining to James the concept of different poem structures. That was when Rose started feeling a sudden aching pain near her neck.  
"What's wrong?" James asked.  
"No, it's fine. My neck has been acting weird for a couple of days." Rose told him, holding her hand on her aching neck, hoping that would heal the pain (it didn't).  
That was when James noticed that Rose wasn't wearing a scarf. For the past couple of days Rose had worn a scarf. James had just thought she had wanted to worn it. _I guess not, _James thought.  
"What happened?" James asked, wondering what had happened for her neck to hurt.  
"I woke up to it in the middle of the night a couple of days ago. Actually, it was weird; there were weird cuts on my neck. That's how it all started."  
James froze. "What kind of cuts?" _I didn't, I know I didn't._  
"Two tiny cuts, it's hard to explain. I can show you." Rose had no idea where this sudden boost of self-confidence was coming from, but next thing she knew she was ripping off the band aid that covered up her wounds. After the sudden pain from the band aid subsided, she showed James. "See, isn't it weird?"  
James was still frozen. _I didn't, I know I didn't._  
James knew there was something he could do. It was risky, but he could fix this problem, he knew he could. "May I look at it?"  
Rose found this odd. "Um…sure."  
He graced his hand closer towards her neck. His lips went closer and closer towards the wound.  
The closer James got, the more uncomfortable Rose got. _What the hell is this guy doing?_  
Rose then felt a light cool breeze on her neck.  
James was blowing on her wound, but why?  
When James stopped and removed his hand from her neck Rose put her hand towards her neck. She felt for the two cuts, but they were nowhere to be found. Rose looked up at James, utterly confused.  
"What did you do?" Rose asked.  
"Nothing," James said.  
Their relationship was consisting on nothing but secrets. Something that James didn't want, but was forced to do.  
James knew he had to leave. And he did. He ran from Rose's room, ran down the stairs and out of her house before anything else could happen.  
Rose ran after him. "Wait, where are you going? James! What was that?"  
But James didn't hear her, because he was already gone.

* * *

_Hey, it's Kelly! :) Kinda short..sorry, I was in a hurry to finish this. (stupid procrastination) Well I hope you like it & review. I personally wanted this chapter to be better then it is, but whatever..it's my fault. oh & the ending I DID get semi-inspired by Twilight (the movie, not the book), so sorry about that. Until next Sunday!  
-Kelly_


	9. Chapter 9: New House Guest, New Problems

**Fangs & Fins  
Chapter 9: "New House Guest = New Problems"**

Rose tried to run out the door and run after James but was stopped by Lily.  
"What the fu…" Rose started to say. But then she saw Lily's expression and finished that sentence by saying, "…fudge."  
Lily chuckled.  
Rose wondered why Lily was carrying boxes in her hands; _she never brings home anything from the Juicenet Café._  
Rose asked, "What's all that?"  
Lily looked down at the packages she was carrying and spoke, "Oh, we have a new house guest."  
Rose was confused. _Who on earth could Lily have as a house guest?_  
Then Rose noticed a tall beach blonde guy with a tan slightly muscular body move closer towards the door.  
Rose knew who this was.  
"Oh, hey Rose," Byron said.  
"Hey…Byron," Rose replied. It was weird saying Byron's name. She hadn't even seen him since that one dance a couple of years ago. That happened to be the same dance where Rose and Lily's skin turned red, courtesy of Lewis' waterproof formula.  
"What are you doing here?" Rose asked._ I haven't heard from this guy in what years, and now all of a sudden he wants to be buddy-buddy again?  
_Byron was all smiles. "Oh, my parents moved to the states a while back, that's why I left. They came back here for a bit, but they're leaving soon, and I really didn't want to go back to the states, so I told Lily my story and she offered me a place here."  
Rose looked at Lily.  
Lily was smiling as well.  
Rose knew that Lily had liked Byron back when he was around, did she still like Byron?  
"Ok, well it's been fun, but I was in the middle of going somewhere."  
"Oh, that's fine, where are you going?" Lily asked, moving all of Byron's things from the front door to the living room floor.  
Rose uttered rather fast and muffled, "James house."  
"What? Did you say James' house? I'm sorry, but no." Lily said.  
Rose figured she'd say this. So she had a Plan B.  
"Oh, that's alright, I'll just go upstairs then." Rose said, moseying on upstairs, acting like not going to James', wasn't the end of the world.  
"Hey Rose, since you're heading up, mind putting Byron's things in Elliot's old room?" Lily asked, handing Byron's things to Rose (which Rose didn't manage to grab so they fell to the ground).  
"WHAT!?" Rose screamed.  
"Yes, Rose, Elliot's room," Lily repeated.  
Rose's mouth was still hanging open.  
"Oh come on, no one's in that room, that room needs some use."  
"Fine." Rose said. She picked up Byron's dropped items and began heading upstairs.  
Byron looked at Lily with confusion.  
"Don't mind her. She's always a little moody." Lily explained.

It was now getting late; Byron was all settled into Elliot's room, and Rose figured this was the perfect opportunity to sneak out and head on over to James' house (she needed to know what was going on with James).  
Rose crept downstairs, getting closer and closer to the door. The closer she got, the more nervous she became.  
She was mere inches from the door when someone grabbed her shoulder. She turned around and was facing Byron.  
"Oh, Byron…it's just you. I thought it was…"  
"Lily?" Byron questioned.  
"Yeah, Lily," Rose answered.  
"So, where are you heading off too?" Byron asked.  
Rose gave out a quick remark, "None of your business!"  
"James' house I presume."  
_Seriously, how did this guy know and he's only been here not even a day! _Rose thought.  
"Yes, I'm leaving just for a bit, now don't tell Lily." Rose explained.  
"Come on, I won't tell anyone. It'll be our little secret." Byron said this with a weird gleam in his eye and an odd smile to match.  
Rose produced a creped out expression. _Ok, are all the guys that I encounter creepers or is it me?_ Rose took this as her chance to leave. "Remember, don't tell Lily." And the next thing she knew, her feet were running out the door.

Rose knew what James' house looked like; she just didn't know exactly how to get there. By using the trial and error process, she eventually found it (and it only took her forty minutes!). Rose stared up at the house. She still couldn't believe how ordinary the house was. If you were to have the exterior of the house fit the Wood's personality, the house would be the darkest shade of black and the landscaping would definitely not be maintained. Rose took a deep long breath. "This is it, you can do this," Rose said to herself. She wasn't even sure why she was talking to herself, she went to James' house on her own, it's not like she was forced to come here. _Then why the heck am I so nervous?_ She thought.  
She crept closer and closer towards the doorway, Rose getting more and more closer to the door bell which made her more and more nervous, which made her question her nervousness. Her finger now grazed the doorbell. _This is it, no looking back now._ More thoughts scurried in her mind.  
Ding! Dong!  
The mere utter of that sound made Rose jump. She began to feel her hands clam up and started to feel sweat dripping off of her forehead. _This looks attractive_, Rose thought.  
It's been a couple of minutes since anyone had answered the door, and Rose thought that maybe no one was home.  
As soon as that thought processed in her mind, someone in fact did answer the door. Fortunately, that person wasn't James (even though he was why she was here). The someone turned out to be a tall, older man that had a mean and gruff expression on his face. He seemed very professional and the type of person that you didn't want to mess with.  
"May I help you?" the man (who Rose took to be James' father) said. Even his voice sounded mean and harsh.  
_Geez, he needs to take some happy pills_, Rose thought.  
"I'm looking for James, is he here?" Rose asked, making her voice sound very polite and sweet (hoping he wouldn't act mean towards her).  
"No, I'm afraid he's not, but I can give him a message," the man said.  
"Um, just tell him that Rose stopped by."  
"I shall." The man was about to close the door, when Rose stopped him.  
"Hey, you look sort of familiar, have we met before?" Rose asked.  
Rose figured he was in the house that one time James invited her over.  
"I don't think so, now goodbye." The man quickly and certainly loudly, shut the door behind her.  
Rose turned around and slowly but surely headed back towards her house.  
But which each step she took, each breath she took, she couldn't get James' father out of her head. She had to have seen him somewhere before, she just didn't know where.

It didn't help either when Rose got home either (which was around 10:30), and luckily Lily was too busy entertaining Byron she didn't even notice Rose was gone. It also was nice of Byron that he didn't squeal on her.  
_Maybe it'll be good to have him around_, Rose thought.  
Just when Rose thought things would get back to normal, they didn't.  
She had her usual nightmare (the day her mother and brother died), but this one was different, much different.  
Instead of Rose being her usual young self in her nightmares, she was the same age as she is now. There was darkness all around her. She looked to be in some sort of ballroom. She looked down at her clothes. She was wearing this long shimmering red dress. Rose didn't know what was going on, but she didn't like it. She heard noises coming from the darkness.  
"Who's there?" she spoke with uncertainty.  
A man walks into the only visible light that is shining right below her. She recognizes. Rose notices that the man is someone she has seen before; James' father. He lunges towards her and goes straight for her neck. Rose tries to shake him off of her, but he is much too strong for her. She knows what he is; Vampire. Rose tries all she can to scream, no use. No one's around. She was going to die just like her mother…and Elliot.  
But then suddenly she hears footsteps creeping up closer in front of her. Rose knew that someone was going to save her. She managed to kick James' father in a place she'd rather not mention, which seemed to buy her some time to escape.  
The footsteps crept closer and closer, until a full figure was visible.  
Rose smiled at the sight. It was James.  
"James!"  
Rose ran after him, but he just walked away, like he didn't even know who she was.  
"James?" Rose was confused. He had to know her, he just had to. "What's going on?"  
Within that instant, James' father managed to regain his strength and pushed Rose up against a wall.  
She knew that this was the end for her.  
"James!" Rose hoped that James would see her and be rushing towards her side, to save her.  
He took one look at her and walked off, like she didn't even matter to him, when in fact Rose knew that she did.  
"James..." Her sentence was discontinued. James' father had just sunk his fangs into her neck.  
She screamed out in pain.  
And then she was back in reality. She leaped up out of bed, her hands touching her neck, making sure no bite marks were there.  
Rose had no clue what this dream had meant, but it obviously couldn't be good.

* * *

_Excuses, excuses..I have tons of them..which do u want to here? Ok, well this weekend I had a graduation party, every Sunday I have to work from 5-8 which means I have to upload the chapter earlier & then a really big excuse is laziness..i don't know, it's weird, I have the whole chapter in my head & then i can't seem to write it down on the computer, it's weird. Well, I hope you like it & i PROMISE (& please tell me if i break this promise) that I will not be late with any chapters ever AGAIN!  
Hope you liked the chapter btw! :)_

until next time (well, Maddie's writing the next one..sooo, next time next time..lol)

-Kelly

PS: PLEASE REVIEW! The more reviews, more Fangs&Fins! :D


	10. Chapter 10: Horror Scopes?

_A lot of stupid crap has been affecting this chapter, I uploaded it Sunday but changed the Chapter name (because of a typo) and it didn't send out email alerts. Then I uploaded it again yesterday and FanFiction put Chapter 4 as Chapter 10 (But I'm sure I didn't reupload Ch.4!) But hopefully this will work. Because if it doesn't I'm going to hunt the FanFiction people down with sporks._

_Anyway, today is a full moon...so at Cariba Net that means FULL MOON MADNESS!! So this is our gift to you for FMM._

_Enough with the rating - Enjoy the chapter!_

* * *

**Fangs & Fins**

**Chapter 10 Horror-Scopes!**

Rose's hands shook as she took deep, even breaths. It was just a dream, after all.

She climbed out of bed and slipped out to the bathroom where she splashed cold water on her pale and horror-shaken face.

_You're really losing it, Rosie…_

She dried her face off with a towel and turned the bathroom light off before making her way back to her bedroom with her comfy bed. On the way to her destination of comfy-bedness, she passed Byron's current sleeping quarters, Elliot's old room.

Rose could hear quiet whispers through his door. He must be on a phone.

She pressed her ear against the door and listened carefully, knowing that just the smallest sound could alert Byron of her presence or lead her to miss a piece of coveted information.

Rose picked up only a few things whilst eavesdropping. Mostly single words that meant nothing like 'apple', 'chair', and even 'sandwich'. Once she heard a full sentence, but it was only Byron discussing his need for some food.

After a few brief moments of snooping, Rose gave up and opened the door to her own room. She stepped inside and slowly and every so carefully shut the door. She than proceeded to her bed and snuggled under the dark covers.

"I need a stuffie," She mumbled softly, trying to locate the nearest stuffed animal. We'll call it 'Constance Wood' syndrome.

Rose found a stuffed animal under her bed—a giraffe who went by the name of 'Raffi'. Rose cuddled with the soft plush toy before turning off her light and hoping that she wouldn't encounter a terrifying dream again.

--

"You're a Pisces, right?" Lewis asked Lily from his seat at the table a few hours later. The sun had already risen and Lily and Lewis were setting up for breakfast.

Lily nodded as she accidently dropped the ceramic mug her mother had made before she died. It smashed into several small and sharp pieces as it hit the floor with a crash.

"Smooth," Lewis commented.

"Just read me my horoscope," Lily said while she scooped pieces of the mug into the trash bin with her left foot while using her hands to pour orange juice and coffee into various cups and coffee mugs. Lewis got up from his seat and brought the glasses to the table and placed them in the middle.

"Thanks," She muttered.

Lewis resumed his paper-reading. "Your horoscope is telling you to look for new investments. Hey, you could invest in my lures!"

"Absolutely not," Lily said, quickly changing the subject. "What's you're horoscope? Taurus, I remembered."

Lewis smirked and shifted in his seat to face her. "You want to know," He dropped his paper on the table. "It says to never date a Pisces."

Lily nearly spilt coffee all over Rose's waffles. "Rose could have heard that!"

_Or worse, Byron!_

"Relax," Lewis said, rolling his eyes. "You said the same thing when you thought I gave you a hickey that one time—"

Lily glared at him, her blue eyes constricted. "That was different! Thank God it wasn't a hickey."

Lewis shook his head sadly and returned to the paper. As soon as she was sure he wasn't looking, her hand shot up to her neck, right where she thought she had a hickey.

"Hi," Rose said cheerfully, which was unusual. She flung her bag down on the floor and took a seat across from Lewis. She then extended her arm to grab one of the many cups of coffee Lily had poured.

Lily joined them at the table and set Rose's waffles in from of her. Rose reached for her fork and knife (set neatly on either side of her plate by Lily of course) and cut the waffle into perfectly proportioned quarters.

Lily sat down awkwardly next to Lewis and took a sip of coffee from a mug she herself had decorated many years ago.

Lewis was studying Rose's face like it was some sort of intriguing book only he'd find interesting. "Rose, are you wearing…lipstick?"

_Déjà vu_, Lily thought as Rose's hand flew to her mouth with the same speed Lily's own hand had flew to her neck moments before.

"Um, I wanted to add some color to my look," Rose explained.

Lewis snorted into his coffee. "You? _Color?_"

Rose's cheeks turned bright magenta and she aimed a kick at Lewis from under the table. "Are you trying to impress someone?" Lily offered as she helped herself to some toast.

Rose turned a brighter shade of pink. "No, um, no! Totally not." She grabbed her coffee and took a huge sip to avoid answering truthfully.

Byron came racing down the stairs, his blonde ringlets flying. "Hey," He got himself situated in the chair next to Rose and began to devour everything insight.

Lewis looked at Lily angrily. "_Byron?_ You have Byron as your house guest?"

Lily nodded and smiled. "I thought it would be nice." She smiled sweetly at Byron as he ate off of Lewis's plate.

Rose scooted her waffles away from Byron as she watched this.

Lewis looked at Byron and scowled.

_Stupid bigger-than-me Byron! Damn him and his ability to seduce Lily!_

Between bites, Byron pointed at Rose's pink-colored lips and commented. "That is not your color,"

Rose frowned.

Lily looked at her watch. "We'll it's time to get to school!"

"I thought it was Lewis's job to get to school on time?" Rose asked sarcastically.

_Glad to see she hasn't lost her sarcastic wit._

--

Constance hated leaving Hugsy at home when she went to school. Everyday she made sure she was the last to leave so that no one would see her place Hugsy on the couch. She'd get him comfortable then promise she'd be back soon to dress him up in his Ski Jacket outfit she'd made James go out and fetch for her yesterday. Then she'd bid Hugsy goodbye and skip out the door.

But going to school wasn't so bad. She always had Lewis, right?

--

"Hey Rosie," Ben Wood said as he strutted down the hallways in his normal over-the-top fashion. "Did you clean your pants with Windex? Cause I can so see myself in them!"

Rose rolled her eyes and pushed past Ben's pervy figure as she walked towards the English room. Sticking her head around the door she could see James sitting at their table, his head bent as he read a book.

Rose marched over to him and dropped her things on the table. They landed with a large thump and James peered up from his book and looked her straight in the eyes.

"Hey. I'm sorry about yesterday. I had to get um…something for Constance," He explained. "Can we just forget it every happened?"  
Rose crossed her arms tightly. She had expected him to put up a bit of a fight or deny it had ever happened. "Yeah. It's fine."

James smiled and Rose felt her heart race. "Okay, thanks. So…we're still going to study at my house today, right?"

She nodded and sat down next to him. Right as Rose was about to say something, their English teacher started up a class discussion and she was forced to retreat.

--

"You get our books set up and I'll get the sodas," James said a few hours later once he and Rose had arrived at his house.

Rose nodded and he went into the kitchen. Rose set their books and papers up on the Wood's glass coffee table. She then picked Hugsy up and set him on the far end of the couch, away from where she and James would be sitting.

James returned with two sodas. He tossed Rose one and opened his while standing over Hugsy.

"James, you might not want to—"

James's soda clicked open and some of the fizzy orange drops landed on Hugsy the Bedtime Penguin Pal's precious head.

"CRAP," James yelled. "Constance is going to kill me!"

Rose grabbed Hugsy and held him close to her. "Get a…a hat! A tiny little hat!" she suggested.

"Yes," James said triumphantly. "A hat, a tiny little hat…oh! I'll get Rainy Day Bear!" James stated, racing upstairs.

"Because he'll know what to do?!" Rose asked sarcastically. James returned moments later with a stuffed teddy bear close to Hugsy's size wearing a yellow rain coat with a matching hat. James passed Rose the bear and she tugged on the hat. "It's sewn on."

James grabbed Rainy Day Bear from Rose's hands and pulled on the hat, which resulted in him accidently ripping the head off the whole bear.

"Great! Now you destroyed _two_ of your sister's stuffed animals!"

--

"Okay," James said as Rose buttoned up Rainy Day Bear's jacket on Hugsy's little body. "It looks better with the jacket. Maybe she won't even notice the hat."

Rose adjusted the hat on Hugsy's stained head just as Constance walked in. She dropped her bag on the floor and made a bee line towards Hugsy. Rose and James stood idly by as Constance examined Hugsy.

"Why is he wearing Rainy Day Bear's clothes?" She demanded.

"Um…" Rose said, looking at James for support.

"Well," James began. "We thought yellow…was like, totally his color."

Constance placed her hands on her hips and shook her head. "Okay. Whatever." She scooped Hugsy up into her arms and went upstairs to her bedroom.

Rose and James went back to studying and drinking sodas. They had a few side conversations about TV and music and by the time Rose left she was feeling better than she had in a long, long time.

--

Lily stayed after school to use resources from the library which was where she ran into Ash. He was sitting at the table next to her, flipping madly through book pages trying to get her attention. "Lily," He whispered to her.

Lily slammed her book shut and glared at him. "What?!"

"I need to talk to you…outside."

Lily collected her things and followed his tall figure outside. Once they were out the doors, Ash began interrogating her.

"Is your sister friends with a boy named James Wood?"

Lily thought. The name might have come up.

"Maybe. Why do you care?"

Ash sighed. "Look, Lily. You obviously care about your sister. You gave up a lot for her, right?"

Lewis, just to name one thing.

"Yeah..." Lily responded, her voice trailing off.

"Then trust me—you don't want her hanging out with James." Ash said darkly.

Lily raised an eyebrow, questioning his logic.

Ash sighed again. "_Because he's a vampire!_"

--

Constance sat on her bed playing with Hugsy. She was dressing him in his Ski Jacket outfit. He already had the jacket on.

She removed the hat from Hugsy's head and spotted the orange soda stains on his head.

"JAMES!"

--

Lily gasped and stared into Ash's eyes. "Don't be silly—vampires don't exist!"

Ash rolled his eyes impatiently. "Oh yeah? Then what killed your mother?"

"You have my attention," Lily said.

Ash nodded. "My names is Ash. I'm a vampire hunter. James and his family are vampires, and if James is allowing Rose to get so close to her there might be a chance he's in the process of considering telling her he's a vampire. My job is to eliminate them before she gets the chance to. Trust me… if she has feelings for him, she's not going to care. She might throw away her whole life for him. Everything she's worked for. Everything _you've_ worked for."

Lily gulped. "So…is there anything I can do?" She asked him.

Ash smiled. "You can help me." He held out his hand. "Deal?"

Lily looked at Ash's hand timidly before slowly extending her arm and placing her hand in his own. "Deal."

And they shook on it.


	11. Chapter 11: The Momenta Lifetime

**Fangs & Fins  
**Chapter 11: "The Moment that Lasted a Lifetime"

The minute Ash left Lily, she regretted the deal she made Ash.  
_How can I do this to my little sister?_ Lily thought.  
Lily scooped out her surroundings and happened to notice Rose and James talking not far off to where she was in the hallway.  
Lily looked at the way Rose was around James. She was…happy, which Lily thought she would never see on her younger sister again. Rose not only was happy, but she wasn't wearing those baggy black hoodies, but a nice form fitting red t-shirt and a denim skirt.  
Lily realized that because of James, Rose has changed, this time for the better.

-----

Rose finally realized something. She realized that for once in her life, she was happy. She wasn't depressed and thinking about the past. Her head was actually in reality for once. And it all was because of James. Rose had also realized another thing within the past couple of weeks. She realized that she might just possibly maybe have feelings for James Wood_. I could have feelings for James. It's just uncalled for_, Rose thought. But it was true. Rose realized she had to do something about this. Otherwise, she'll always wonder what could have been. It was near the end of the school day and Rose only had so little time to make her move.  
_Where is this sudden confidence boost coming from?_ Rose questioned herself.  
Rose headed towards her locker, and as usual Rose noticed a rose on her locker. Instead of throwing it in the garbage (like she had done countless of times with the previous roses), she picked it up, brought it closer to her nose and smelled the sweet scent that was hidden in the delicate rose petals.  
That was when she saw him. Rose glanced over near the end of the hall and noticed James.  
The closer and closer he got towards her locker, the more anxious she became.  
She actually smiled, which is something she has never done.  
"Hey." James said to Rose the minute he reached her locker.  
"Hey." Rose responded.  
_It's now or never, Rose_, she thought to herself.  
"Hey James, I was wondering…if maybe…possibly you would want to hang out with me. Not like on a date or anything, but…yeah…"  
_That was pure torture_, Rose thought. _He probably thinks I'm an idiot now.  
_Rose waited for James' response. "Well, Rose, that's nice of you to offer, but I have to turn you down."  
"Oh, that's ok, we can go whenever." Rose said.  
James glanced somewhere else and noticed Ben and Jewel standing not far from James. The closer Rose was to him, the harder it was to focus. James could feel his fangs creeping out. He was losing it. James really didn't want any danger to come to Rose, and that was what was going to happen if he kept spending so much time with her.  
"I'm sorry, Rose…but I have to go."  
Rose had no idea what just happened. James bolted towards the nearest door.  
"Did I do something wrong?" Rose questioned. She was sick of all this mystery crap.  
She ran after James.  
Ben and Jewel noticed the whole scene. "See, this is why I don't get involved with humans, too much drama." Ben said to Jewel.

Rose kept running until she saw James. James was near a tree with his back away from Rose. To Rose it seemed like he was having a panic attack or something. "What was that back there?" Rose questioned.  
"Nothing nothing, I suggest you leave." James told Rose.  
"But, why?" Rose was utterly confused. _First he goes from being totally romantic and a nice guy, and now he's giving me the cold shoulder. I don't get it,_ Rose thought.  
"I knew we should have never started anything." James spoke.  
"Start what?"  
"Just leave!" James yelled at Rose.  
"I'll leave when you give me an explanation." Rose told James, never taking 'no' as an answer.  
"I can't right now, maybe later."  
Rose was fed up. "Where is all of this coming from?" If this was the true James, Rose didn't like it. "What is your problem? Are you afraid of actually liking someone?"  
James didn't say anything, his back still towards Rose.  
"I can't believe I started to like you. You wanna know my feelings towards now? I hate you! You're just like all the others. You run whenever you start getting to know me. You don't care about me, you just care about yourself. You just care about your reputation. Well newsflash, spending time with me will definitely ruin it." Rose had no idea where all this rage and anger was coming from, but it was the first time she told anyone any of this.  
James was no facing her. "You think I don't want to be with you? Seriously?"  
"Well, I don't know. You're making no sense!" Rose yelled. "And just once I would want someone to be honest with me but no…" Rose was cut off.  
Rose hadn't notice James creeping closer and closer towards her. She hadn't notice any of this until James' hands were grazing her cheeks, and then suddenly his soft lips were on hers. They were kissing, and Rose didn't even expect it.  
It may have only lasted about five seconds, but to Rose it felt like it lasted a lifetime. When the kiss was over, Rose couldn't help but smile.  
James smiled and said, "You were saying?"

-----

By the time Rose had gotten home, she did the cliché movie move. She opened the front door, closed it and leaned in front of it, all while wearing a dorky smile upon her face.  
"You had a good day I presume." Lily said, noticing Rose come in.  
Rose started heading into the living room, where Lily was. "Sort of, it was definitely interesting."  
Lily knew where this was going. "Let me guess, does this all have to do with a guy named James Wood?"  
Rose didn't even need to answer. It was written all over her face.  
"Thought so, listen Rose; I have something to tell you." Lily told Rose. She had to tell her sooner or later.  
Rose stepped closer to Lily. "Ok, shoot."  
"Well, there's something you need to know about James." Lily said. "You might want to sit down for this."  
Rose remained standing.  
"Ok, never mind. Well, what you're about to hear will probably shock you."  
"Just tell me!" Rose was growing very impatient.  
"Well, he's…Well, I think he's um…"  
"Um, what?" Rose asked, having no clue what was going on here.  
"I think he's a…vampire." _There I said it_, Lily thought. Lily looked at Rose's expression.  
It was pure shock, mouth hanging open and all, just like Lily had expected.  
"I don't believe this." Rose muttered.  
"I know, I know…I thought the same thing. But hey at least you know now."  
"I can't believe you would lie just to keep James and I from being together." Rose yelled.  
"Wait, what? Rose, that's not what this, is about." Lily said.  
"Yes it is, you hate James and you came up with this stupid story just so I'd be too scared to hang out with him. Well newsflash, I'm not." Rose told her older sister.  
Lily was just shocked. That Rose wouldn't believe her own sister. And think of all the things she had done for Rose in the past.  
Rose headed for the front door.  
"Where do you think you're going?" Lily asked.  
"Anywhere you're not." Rose yelled. And with that Rose opened the front door, and left, slamming the door in the process.  
"Well that went well." Lily told herself.

* * *

_Hey guys, sorry i'm late with this...but hey, at least i posted it (& not like on monday like i did the last time)..lol. :) Well I really hope you like this chapter...I was very heistant on wheter I should have all this happen (I wasn't sure if it was too soon for it). Let me know what you guys think. PLEASE REVIEW! We would very much appreciate it._

Well until next time...

_xoxo,_

_Kelly_

PS: Any fans of the book series Private_ by: Kate Brian? If so, the webseries (under the same name) is coming out Tuesday August 11th..i HIGHLY reccomend you guys check it out. It's at __.com__ Every Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday. Fans of_ Gossip Girl _will love it! I'm sooo excited..that's partly why this is out late..lol (I was too busy rewatching the trailer)._

oh & go & see Bandslam_ Friday! I know I am (well i'll try anyway..lol)_


	12. Chapter 12: Lewis's School of Dating!

**Fangs & Fins**

**Chapter 12: "Lewis's School of Dating!"**

Moments after Rose had dramatically exited the Collin's home, some knocked lightly on the front door.

Lily, who was just about to make her over to her couch to have a good cry, (hoping that Byron might possibly show up and comfort her), paced over to the door and opened it to see Lewis standing idly on the front step, hands shoved deep into his pockets.

"Hey…" He began awkwardly. "I've got something of yours."

Lily looked at him, confused. "But I thought we already did that cliché-give-back-each-others-stuff bit."

Lewis nodded. "But I found this," He pulled a small earring out of his jean pocket and held it between his thumb and index finger so Lily could see." On my bedroom floor and it wasn't my mom's, so…"

Lily took the earring from Lewis's hand and examined it closely. "Yeah, this is my earring." She flipped the stud over in her palm. "Um, did you find the back?"

Lewis shook his head. "Nope," he watched Lily rolled the earring around in her pale hand.

"Actually, I think this was my mom's earring." She held the piece of jewelry up to the light. "I bet Rose would like them—"  
Byron came pounding down the stairs and landed with a large "thud" in the kitchen. "Hey Lily, Sup' Lewis."

Lewis scowled and was just about to shoot Byron the finger when Lily wasn't looking, but this was seemingly impossibly, seeing as Lily's eyes were locked on Byron's every move.

After consuming a glass of orange juice, finally realized that he might have disrupted Lily and Lewis's conversation.

"Sorry," He motioned back and forth between Lily and Lewis. "Was I interrupting something?"

"Yeah, we were talking—"

Lily set the earring down on the coffee table and jumped up from her seat. "No, you weren't." She turned to Lewis. "Could you find the matching earring in my room and then put the earrings in Rose's room? She'll probably want them more than I would."

Lewis sighed as he watched Lily flirt with Byron. He picked the earring up form the glass coffee table and descended up the Collin's snow white carpeted stairs.

After rummaging around in Lily's jewelry box for a few minutes, he located the other earring and brought them into Rose's bedroom.

Rose's room looking much different than the last time Lewis has dared to set foot in it. Besides the white-red-black color scheme, Lewis noticed some brightly colored accents, and instead of the old Panda Bear Poster Rose had hung on the ceiling of her bedroom ever since Lewis had purchased it for her at a neighboring toy shop so many years ago, a new poster of a band Lewis had never heard of hung in its place.

Lewis set the earrings down on Rose's desk and left the room.

By the time he was half-way down the Collin's steps he could hear Lily and Byron's voices. He then proceed to the front door and slammed it as hard as he could.

--

Rose was marching downtown, trying to blow off steam when she nearly ran into the last person she'd ever expect to see.

Constance Wood was carrying a yellow bag advertizing the logo of the local toy store. Rose assumed that she'd been picking out something for Hugsy, or possibly Rainy Day Bear.

"Hi, Constance!" Rose said. Constance looked up to face her. "Rose?"

Rose nodded. "Hey, Constance, listen…does your brother have a cell phone number?"

Constance nodded and Rose handed Constance her cell phone. Constance punched in James's number.

"Thanks," Rose said smiling at Constance. Constance smiled back, but her smile was half-hearting and there was something utterly heartbreaking about it.

After Constance had headed for home, Rose was about to call James, excited to hear his voice through the other end of the line, before realizing that she didn't know what to say or what she was even calling about in the first place.

This dating stuff was complicated, apparently. She didn't want to say anything stupid that would make him lose any respect that he had for her. Or did he have any respect for her in the first place?!

She needed help. Advice. But from who?

Lily?

No, Rose was in no shape to have another encounter with her.

Ben?

Ew, no way.

Running out of options, Rose picked the last person she would ever pick in any other situation, unless it involved severe dork-ness.

So making her decision about who would have essential advice in her difficult situation and current relationship status, she went on her way to Lewis's house.

--

"Never, ever, date. It only ends in heartbreak." Lewis advised Rose while skimming over a math textbook.

Rose snacked on one of the cookies Lewis's mother had laid out for them. "And how would you know? Do you have a girlfriend? Had one?" She questioned eagerly.

Lewis glanced up from his textbook. "Yes. I did."

Rose let out an un-Rose-like squeal. "Do I know her?"

_More than you think._

Lewis shrugged, hoping that Rose would comprehend that he did not want to talk about it.

Rose sighed. "Well I've got to go, thanks for the advice and stuff—"

Her phone had been beeping the entire conversation, but Rose hadn't wanted to answer it and distract herself from something Lewis could be saying.

She now pulled the phone out from her pocket and began flipping from the numerous text messages she had received—all from Lily.

"How many text messages can one have?!" She demanded, setting the communication device on silent.

Rose looked Lewis straight in the eyes. "Hey, can I spend the night here? Lily and I had a fight and—"

Lewis slammed the textbook closed. "I'm not sure. Two of my brothers are visiting for my mom's birthday and they're already taken all the places you could sleep in—"

"Fine," Rose snarled. She picked up her phone and dialed James's number.

"James?"

* * *

_I apologize for the lame-ness of this chapter and how pathetically short it is, but I'm in a really terrible mood seeing as last night I stepped on a knitting needle and my foot hurts like hell. So I'm cranky and feel awful._

_But I still apologize for the "filler" chapter! I'm sure I'll will post something better to make up for this next time! I'm also really upset about the stupid FORMAT. UGH. *bashes head*_

_-Maddie_

_PS: GO SEE 500 DAYS OF SUMMER. Please? For the injured fan fiction author?_


	13. Chapter 13: A Temporary Home

**Fangs & Fins  
****Chapter 13: A Temporary Home**

"Thanks for letting me spend a couple of days here." Rose told James as she dropped her red duffel bag onto the Wood's couch.  
"It's no problem." James said, but Rose could tell that James was having doubts, for one thing: he couldn't look her in the eye.  
"Is everything alright? It's not me, is it?"  
"No, no. It's fine." James really didn't have the heart to say 'No'. It's not that James didn't want Rose here; he just knew that the more time he spent with her, the more of a chance something bad would happen to her. Fortunately, he didn't have to worry about his father, otherwise there would be chaos. But currently, James' father was out hunting and wouldn't be back for a couple of weeks.  
"Are you sure?" Rose asked him.  
"I'm positive."  
James helped Rose put her stuff in Constance's room and get settled.  
"This is going to be so much fun!" Constance squealed, obviously excited about having another girl around for a while.  
"Ha-ha, yep," Rose said, awkwardly.  
"You can do whatever you like here. My room is your room." Constance graciously explained to Rose.  
"Thank you."  
"So, why are you staying here anyway?" Constance asked her.  
Rose knew that question would pop up sooner or later. "Well, my sister and I got into a little fight, and well…I just didn't want to go back home to all the tension."  
"Oh, I get it." Constance said.  
"Really?"  
"Not really, actually. I've never really fought with any of my siblings probably because they're both guys. Usually it's James and Ben doing all the arguing."  
Rose noticed that. But, who wouldn't get mad at Ben, he deserves it.  
"But what about Jewel, isn't she your sister?"  
"No, she's just a family friend. A family friend that likes to come around here a lot for a certain somebody…"  
Just the mention of Jewel trying to flirt with James sent Rose off the edge.  
Constance noticed Rose's expression. "Oh, sorry. So, what's going on between you two anyway?"  
_I think I liked it better when Constance never talked_, Rose thought. Rose definitely didn't mean that, it's just… Rose didn't like to sure her entire life story to people.  
Rose quickly finished stuffing her clothes in the drawer that Constance graciously offered and sat on her bed, next to Constance. "I don't know actually."  
"Well, he talks about you all the time."  
"Really?" Rose was shocked and flattered all at the same time.  
"Really what?"  
Rose and Constance glanced in the doorway and it was none other than James.  
"Oh, hi James, we were just talking." Constance said.  
"And what embarrassing things have you told about me?" James asked.  
"Nothing, except that you drool in your sleep," Rose told James, saying the first thing that popped into her head.  
"Oh, do I? Well, I happen to also spit at certain times of the day, and well…"  
"You wouldn't!" Rose shouted.  
"Watch me." James playfully smiled.  
James then leaped onto Constance's bed and tried to 'spit' on both Constance and Rose (which actually turned out to be a tickle fight).  
"Aw, I'm missing all the fun." Ben said as he glanced into Constance's room.  
Everyone stopped what they were doing, especially James.  
"Hey Rose, you can still take me up on that offer." Ben exclaimed.  
"What offer?"  
"The offer where I give you a tour of _my_ room," Ben told Rose.  
Rose was sick of Ben's pervy remarks. _Is he trying to get beat up or something?_ Rose grabbed a nearby pillow and threw it at Ben.  
"Ok, I can see I'm not wanted here. You could have just said so." Ben then sulked towards his bedroom.  
"Is he always like that?" Rose asked James.  
"Unfortunately yes. And with you here, it's even worse." James told Rose.  
"Hey guys, do you want to watch a movie or something?" Constance asked the two.  
"Sure, why not." Rose said.

Constance insisted of watching _Aquamarine,_ which Rose had to say yes to (if you say no to Constance, it just breaks her heart). She would much have rather watched a romance movie like _A Walk to Remember _or _Twilight_. But the weirdest thing was, when Constance made popcorn for the three of them, hardly Constance or James ate anything, which brought the question: _How come I've never seen them eat anything?_  
You think they'd be hungry sometimes. Rose asked Constance and James if they wanted some and they flat out denied.  
Rose didn't think much of it at the time; they could have had a big lunch or breakfast.

Within an hour into the movie, Rose had fallen asleep and coincidentally next to James no less.  
But Rose didn't care. In fact, by the time the movie was over, Rose was still asleep. James thought it'd be best if they leave her there instead of wake her up to head to Constance's room. James grabbed a nearby blanket and placed it on Rose. James then placed a quick kiss upon Rose's cheek.  
"What?" James asked Constance.  
"Nothing, it's just…Rose and James sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S.." Constance whisper-screamed.  
"Ok, I get it. So what?"  
"So what, is what happens when Dad finds out? He'll flip out!"  
"He's not going to find out." James explained to Constance.  
"I hope you're right."

-----

Rose opened her eyes and noticed she was in a room that was pitch-black. _Where am I?_  
Then Rose remembered the movie and how she had fallen asleep. _James and Constance must of decided to let me sleep._  
Rose was smiling by the mention of James' name. She couldn't believe that she was at his house, living here (for the time being).  
Rose quickly closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. That was until she heard a noise coming from the kitchen. Her eyes were wide open.  
Rose peered at her watch. It was three in the morning, who would be up?  
Rose figured it was no big deal so she went back to sleep.  
That was when she started to hear more noises, but this time they were closer.  
Rose figured it be best if she kept her eyes shut. _It's all in your head, go back to sleep._  
Then she could feel breathing on her neck and something moving towards her.  
Now Rose was too scared to open her eyes.  
Closer, closer, until she could feel something sharp near her skin.  
That was when she opened her eyes. But when she opened her eyes, no one was there, everything looked the same.  
Rose tossed her covers aside and decided to take a look around the house, seeing if anything suspicious caught her eye.  
First thing, she went into the bathroom and glanced into the mirror. She looked at her neck and fortunately nothing was there (unlike that one time).  
Rose was about to turn the lights off when she noticed something red on the floor. She picked it up and it looked like some sort of pouch filled with this red liquid.  
_What the?_  
She had no idea what this was all about. She decided to ignore it and head back to the couch, not bothering to check the house for anything weird (after all she didn't live here).  
But the weirdest thing happened.  
What Lily had said to her before Rose had left was repeating in her mind: _"I think he's a…vampire."_

* * *

_Again, sorry with being late on this...I was going to add more, but I didn't want this to be too late. Well, what do u think? Let me know, REVIEW! :)  
Oh & just letting you know I probably won't be online as much starting tomorrow, I start college (I know scary thought)...well it's only 4 classes & 2 of them don't even start until Sept. 16th, but still. Wish me luck, i'm kinda nervous about the whole thing..i don't know how hard the courses will be. _

_Oh & since we're on the subject of vampires (well not really, but this story is about vampires sooo) I want to recommend a book series. Evemore! (even though i think i already mentioned this to you guys) It's really good & no it's not a Twilight ripoff (as many people keep saying)..it's very good & actually is quite similar to F&F (except she's a psychic, not a mermaid..long story). & the 3rd book comes out on my birthday! (November 24th!)_

Well, until next-next Sunday..haha :) (i'll let u know how my classes are by then)

-Kelly


	14. Chapter 14: Ben's New Teddy Bear

**Fangs & Fins:**

**Chapter 14: "Ben's New Teddy Bear"**

Moments after Rose considered the truth behind Lily's words, Lewis entered the Collin's house to find Lily spawed out on the couch, a pillow hiding her face. Her legs were tangled and her arms were stuck tightly at her side. The TV was on and a re-run of a sitcom was airing. Lily seemed not to notice the loud noises coming from the television as two of the sitcom's characters argued.

"Lily?" Lewis questioned timidly, stepping into the house and closing the door behind him. He walked towards the couch and hovered over Lily's tangled form. His eyes glanced momentarily towards the TV screen as an attractive female came into the shot. He blinked twice at her appearance then returned to Lily.

Lily pushed the pillow away from her face – she looked disastrous. Makeup smudged; hair mussed. She glared at Lewis, most likely not remembering the text message she had sent him at an ungodly hour instructing him to arrive at her house bright and early. She hadn't explained much - and Lewis could pick up her drab mood just from reading her frantic message.

"Rose is gone!" She cried, forcing the top half of her body out of its uncomfortable position on the sofa and looked Lewis straight in the eye. Her expression was filled with sorrow and regret. It was very similar to the face she had shown up with the day she broke up with Lewis. He twitched uncomfortably at the thought.

"Have you seen her?" She said quietly, her blue eyes not leaving his own.

Lewis sighed and spat it all at. "She came by my house, hoping to stay for a few days I suppose. I told her she couldn't stay because my brothers are visiting. I was hoping she'd come back here but—"

Lily cut him off and starting uttering a mix of swear words and complete nonsense. She trashed her arms at a near by throw pillow and entered a fit of outrage.

"Where could she be?!" Lily shrieked at Lewis, her voice faltering with ever word. "What if –"

Lily froze. "Good God – _what if she's with James_!"

Lewis had a feeling that he was missing something and decided not to aggravate Lily by asking her to explain. Lily sunk down to the couch and began sobbing. "It's my fault!" She screamed. "It's all my fault!"

Lewis approached her cautiously and sat beside her. He slid his arms around her and let her cry, scream, and curse all over him.

After Lewis had said enough positive encouragement to calm Lily down, she explained her rash actions in a clam manner.

"I feel…like I failed her." Lily whispered her voice still weak. She looked up at Lewis her eyes red from crying.

Lewis knew that Lily was secretly afraid of failing – it was probably what she was afraid of most. She worked so hard at everything she did and the little acknowledgment she received in feedback only kept her striving for more.

After a few silent moments where Lily didn't make a sound of any kind – she turned to face Lewis.  
"I'm sorry," she said quietly, the words rolling out of her mouth in one swift motion.

Lewis thought she was referring to his soaked T-Shirt or how he was now scarred for life after hearing all of the creative variations of a limited amount of swear words Lily had strung together and thrown at him.

"It's okay," He assured her, squeezing her a little bit tighter to get his point across.

"No," Lily sniffled. "It's not. I shouldn't have just broken up with you like that."

Lewis realized this was not about harshly said curses or the water his shirt had soaked up.

"I'm sorry and I regret doing it – but I had to do what was best for Rose." Lily clarified.

The two sat in utter silence for a second.

"You're my best friend, you know?" Lily said, smiling at him.

"Yeah," Lewis grinned. "Best friends."

_Sometimes you want something so much that you convince yourself that you have something. But then reality hits you – and you don't._

--

Rose took several deep breaths and went over the situation she was currently in.

_He was a vampire_.

She thought carefully about this. She knew James. He just couldn't be…she (and Lily) must be jumping to conclusion. Vampires had killed her mother and Elliot. Vampires had made her become a bleak and unapproachable person. Vampires had made her feel like she was drowning in a world of darkness. James had pulled her out of that world. He couldn't be a vampie.

Rose decided she didn't have enough facts to make the conclusion that James was in fact a vampire.

Or maybe she was just in denial.

Rose left the bathroom and hurried downstairs in a rush, her curly blonde hair flying around her shoulders. Her hand brushed the banister of the stairs and she noticed someone had taped a message to one of the stair rails. It had her name at the top.

Constance has scribbled (in her boyish hand writing that resembled the font used on Constance's favorite television show _Friends_) that she and James had gone to get donuts and would return shortly. Ben was upstairs – _with a girl_ – if she needed anything.

Rose instantly decided that she would most unquestionably not be needed anything.

Rose smiled at the smiley face Constance had put beside her name and set the letter on the glass coffee table. Remains of the fun night the three had shared last night remained – _Aquamarine_'s DVD case and pieces of popcorn were scattered across the shiny top. Hugsy and Rainy Day Bear (with his head sewn back on, of course) were lying in a basket that the Woods put the magazines they received in the mail in.

Rose noticed that _Aquamarine_ was not in its case. She remembered how much it annoyed Lily when Rose – and even Lewis – forgot to put a DVD back in its case after they were finished watching it. Rose decided to be a helpful house guest and put the DVD back in its case and then back on the shelf where Constance had produced the DVD from in the first place.

After successfully opening the fancy DVD player the Woods owned, Rose stuck _Aquamarine_ back in its case and proceeded to put it back on its shelf.

Rose was actually quite proud of herself for being helpful and chose to continue completely good deeds till Constance and James returned.

She looked in the kitchen to see if there were dirty dishes in the sink. The popcorn bowl from last night was still on the coffee table but Rose was expecting more dishes.

None. The sink was empty and was so spotless that Rose could see her own reflection in it. Rose spun around to see if the dishwasher was running.

It wasn't.

Rose was getting a bad feeling. Her stomach tingled and she felt slightly light headed – she started to feel sick—

Rose sprinted upstairs towards the bathroom, but her head and stomach began to feel normal again and she stopped at the top of the stairs in relief.

Ben then emerged from his bedroom.

"Hey, Rosie." He said happily. He had a rather bad case of bed-head and his shirt was hanging on him awkwardly.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Ben, I have a question," she asked awkwardly. Her eyes drifted towards a small red stain on his pure white shirt…

"Ask away," Ben said, leaning against the wall in the hallway. He smirked at her. "You checking me out?"

"Sure," Rose muttered. "Anyway, I'm doing this, um, survey for a class I'm taking. I'm supposed to ask you what your favorite food is."

Ben looked like he was deep in thought. "I'd have to say…hamburgers. James makes really good ones, maybe you should have him cook you one sometimes."

_Damn_, Rose thought. It sounded believable.

"Thanks," Rose said. "Carry on now,"

Ben didn't head to his room or downstairs. Instead he took a step closer to Rose.

"Ben, what the hell do you think you're doing?!" Rose demanded.

Ben put his face very close to hers and forced her back towards the wall. "I saw you checking me out."

"Yes, you said so—"

Ben's was smiling cockily at her. "You might be James's friend, but soon you'll be mine…after all. I really did lose my teddy bear. And I'm looking for a replacement."

"BEN," Rose screamed, her eyes pleading with him. "Please, don't!"

Ben opened his mouth to laugh – and Rose caught a glimpse of some razor sharp teeth.

_Vampire._

James.

Ben.

Constance.

She didn't know what was worse – the fact that Ben was seconds away from making her his next teddy bear or that James was a—

"ROSE?!"

* * *

_I am still really upset with the format - but I'll live..I guess. Sigh. Anyway, if you care, that quote at the end of the Lily and Lewis bit was said by my friend's boyfriend, Roy. I called him up and asked him to say something "deep" and he did. So thanks to him! _

_-Maddie_


	15. Chapter 15: Mystery Solved, Or is it?

**Fangs & Fins  
****Chapter 15: "Mystery Solved…or is it?"**

"ROSE?!"  
Rose stopped looking at Ben as he licked his lips in a creepy/perverted way to see who had shouted her name.  
A girl stepped out from Ben's bedroom, a girl who Rose instantly recognized.  
"Charlotte?" She asked in disbelief, blinking a few times to make sure she wasn't hallucinating.  
Charlotte nodded blissfully. "I was with Ben! Why do you have Rose pinned against the wall?"  
Ben's excited face turned into a deep scowl. His plan had been ruined and he was clearly upset about it.  
Charlotte crossed her arms. "Please tell me you were not going to…"  
She was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening downstairs.  
"Rose!" Constance yelled in exhilaration. She sounded like a little girl on Christmas morning, eagerly awaiting gift-opening. "We have DONUTS!"  
Rose peered down the stairs to see Constance smiling and James carrying a long box filled with donuts.  
Constance and James both marched upstairs to drag Rose down for breakfast, only to see Ben still pinning her against the wall and Charlotte observing the whole situation.  
"Ben!" Constance gasped.  
James sent Ben the most threatening look Rose had ever seen. His eyes narrowed and Rose thought she might have heard him growl. Ben backed away from Rose and held up his hands up in a calm down gesture.  
"Come on", Constance shrieked. "Let's go have donuts. We didn't know which kind you liked, Rose, so we just got one of everything."

That's how Rose found herself sitting at the Wood's kitchen table between James and Constance, facing Ben and Charlotte. James' glare only shifted from Rose to Ben. He would send Rose a smile, but he'd give Ben daggers.  
When Rose had opened the donut box to select which donut she wanted, she'd noticed that a few were missing. Constance had simply explained that she and James had not been able to resist the donuts while carrying them home, so they snacked on a few.  
James used the explanation Constance had given Rose about having already eaten and Ben simply refused to eat any of the mouthwatering donuts James and Constance had brought with them.  
Charlotte simply shrugged and dumped a few onto her plate. Rose eventually did the same and while the vampires (if they were Rose was pretty sure but not completely sure) just sat and watched Rose and Charlotte.  
"Can you stay another night?" Constance asked Rose. It would be tons of fun.  
Rose thought for a moment. "Yeah, one more night would be fine."  
Constance smiled and reached over to hug Rose. James grinned at Rose and she returned his smirk.  
"Wait," Constance said, pausing for a dramatic effect. "We need a movie to watch!" She turned to James. "Can we go to the movie store to pick one out?"  
James shrugged. "If Rose wants to,"  
Rose nodded at Constance who smiled broadly. "Yay! Let's go!"

Lewis walked up to the Collins house and nodded firmly on the front door. He waited for a few minutes with no answer. Someone was home he could hear voices coming from the living room. The door was unlocked so Lewis slipped through and found himself staring at Lily and Legend of the Seeker Guy discussing a bunch of papers spread all over the coffee table.  
"Lewis!" Lily shrieked in surprise. In one swift motion Ash pushed all the papers into his bag.  
"Hi," Lewis said. He looked at Ash who was getting up from his seat on the couch and heading for the door.  
"Bye Lily!" He called as he slammed the door shut behind him.  
"Hey," Lily said, picking up the coffee mugs she and Ash had been drinking out of. "What's up?"  
"Oh you know, not much." Lewis said. Lily went into the kitchen to deposit of the mugs into the sink. Lewis followed her like a dotting puppy dog.  
"What was, um, Ash doing here?" Lewis questioned his friend, his voice laced with anger.  
"We're working on a project for school together," Lily said quietly.  
Lewis knew she was lying but decided not to push the subject.  
"Hear anything from Rose?" She asked him. Lewis sighed and shook his head mournfully.  
"I'm sure she'll be back soon." He grinned. Lily nodded halfheartedly.  
"Well, um, I have to get to work but I'll see you later, okay?" Lily told him.  
Lewis smiled feebly. "Yeah, sure. Bye,"  
Lily went upstairs to grab her work things and Lewis headed out the door.  
Craving a coffee or some other coffee beverage, he headed towards the middle of town when he spotted a pair of the unlikely friends.  
Rose and a girl he's seen before, he was sure of it. _Chloe…Claire…Constance? Constance, yes. Constance Wood.  
_The two were dressed in scarves and thick jackets as they marched down the sidewalks. Constance dragged Rose into a DVD rental shop, babbling about all the new releases. Rose just nodded her head dolefully as Constance raided the shelves.  
Lewis slipped casually into the shop and hid in the comedy section. He watched Rose and Constance survey the drama movies.  
"This guy is really attractive," Constance said, pointing to a guy who had a strange resemblance to Ash. Rose distracted by the DVD case she was reading nodded.  
Constance giggled. "But let's face it, you only care about James."  
Rose went magenta and smiled slightly at Constance before returning to her DVD.  
"Crap," Lewis muttered under his breath. If Rose was with James' sister, then she must be staying with him. Lily was not going to like this.  
--

"Hey Lewis, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be… I don't know fishing or something?" Lily questioned Lewis.  
Lewis had figured he should tell Lily at Rose's whereabouts, so he hightailed it out of the movie store and journeyed towards the Juicenet, where Lily was working.  
"Well, I was in the neighborhood, so I figured I'd say hi. So…hi!" Lewis was rambling, at this rate he was _never_ going to tell her.  
"Hi… is that all? I hate to be rude, but I have customers." Lily had just finished picking up the remains from people that had just left.  
Lewis looked around and noticed the place was packed. "Yeah, maybe I'll come back then." _You're packing out, Lewis. Just tell her_, he thought to himself.  
"Ok, I'll see you then." Lily knew that Lewis was acting differently than usual. "Is everything alright?"  
"Everything's fine, why wouldn't everything be fine?"  
"Oh, you're babbling…what's wrong?" Lily had known Lewis' nervous tendency to ramble and babble.  
Then suddenly, a loud high-pitched laugh filled the area of the café.  
Lily and Lewis looked to where the sound had come from.  
"What are you going to order, Rose?"  
"Rose?" Lily shouted. Lily tried to scope out her surroundings and there was no sight of her. But she had found the owner of the laugh. Constance Wood.  
"Nothing, I told you… I don't even know why we're here."  
Lily recognized that voice a mile away. "ROSE!?"  
"Crap," Rose muttered. She tried to hide behind Constance.  
"What are you doing?" Constance questioned, and then she recognized the presence of Lily Collins coming towards them. "Are you hiding from somebody?"  
"You can say that." Rose whispered.  
"Rose, I can see you, so stop trying to hide." Lily said the second she approached Rose and Constance.  
Rose knew the jig was up. "Hi… what brings you here?"  
"Um, I work here." Rose could tell that Lily was peeved with her. She has every right to be, Rose had ran away from home and slept over at someone else's house. "May I speak to you in private, Rose?" Lily asked her younger sister.  
"I say no. It'd be rude to Constance."  
"I don't mind, Rose. Go and talk to your sister." Constance said.  
_Thanks for all the help, Constance_, Rose thought.  
Lily grabbed Rose's wrist and lead her to a secluded section of the café.  
"Ok, scream your head off…I deserve it." Rose was expecting a scream fest to occur, instead, the opposite.  
Lily grabbed Rose and hugged her.  
"I am so glad that you're ok!"  
"Why, wouldn't I be? And can you give me some space, I can't breathe." Rose muttered, practically choking from Lily's tight embrace.  
"Sorry," Lily released her hug. "I really worried about you. Never, I repeat _never_, leave the house like that again."  
"Who says I'm going back to the house?" Rose said to her older sister.  
"Why wouldn't you?" Lily said. "Where else would you go?"  
"Hey, Rose, are you ready?"  
Lily turned towards the speaker and wasn't happy with who she saw. James Wood.  
"Yeah, I'm coming. Give me a minute." Rose told to James.  
James then left to join Constance.  
"Rose, what are you doing with James? Did you spend the night at his house?"  
Rose didn't even have to say anything. Her expression said it all.  
"Rose! What were you thinking?"  
"I'm thinking that you're not my mom and I can do what I like." Rose said sternly.  
"Rose, you coming?" Constance yelled from halfway across the room.  
"Yeah, I'm coming." Rose yelled back.  
"Rose, wait…don't be this way." Lily yelled at Rose.  
"What way? And quit telling me what to do, I'm sick of it! And you know what, I might just move out of the house for good!" Rose yelled at Lily.  
The expression on Lily's face was too sad to bear. Lewis (who had been a measly bystander during the whole thing) felt so sad for her. All Lily tries to do is be a good sister and this is how she's tried. If Lewis wasn't mistaken, he could have sworn he saw a tear stream down her cheek.  
Rose walked towards James and Constance. "Come on guys, let's leave."  
"Are you ok, Rose?" James asked Rose, glancing over at Lily.  
"Yeah, I'm fine now." Rose told James.  
The moment Rose and her posse left the café, Lily broke down in tears.  
"Hey, hey…it's ok." Lewis said, wrapping Lily in his arms.  
"I'm sick of having her treat me like this, I'm not doing anything wrong." Lily said, through her sobbing.  
"I know, I know. Everything's going to fine. She's just upset, she'll realize she made a mistake."  
"Are you sure?" Lily asked him, now looking directly into his eyes.  
"Yeah…I'm sure." Lewis responded, not once looking away from those gorgeous eyes.

* * *

_Hey guys, it's Kelly! :) Just so you know, I did NOT write all of this. This is a joint chapter that Maddie & I wrote. (she did the first, I did the last..mine starts off at the cafe). Hope you like it & please REVIEW! Also visit our Live Journal account for Fangs & Fins that Maddie just started!  
This was going to be a bit of Full Moon Madness (which it still sort of is), but i didn't have enough time..and that's why it's a joint chapter.  
See you next Sunday! :)  
oh & sorry for Rose's behavior in the end..i was listening to "Ignorance" by: Paramore & kinda went along with the mood i guess. _


	16. Chapter 16: Fine Dining, Wood Style

**Fangs & Fins**

**Chapter 16: "Fine Dining, Wood Style"**

Rose dragged an oblivious Constance and a semi-amused James all the way to her house. Upon arriving at the Collin's, Rose dug around frantically in her coat pocket, trying to locate her house key – which actually turned out to be in her jean pocket. She jammed her key into the lock and the door creaked open. James leaned over her small figure and pushed the door all the way open. Rose smiled up at James, thanking his for the kind gesture.

"Ohh, you have such a pretty house!" Constance squealed. "I love the color scheme – simple yet affective." Constance ran around to examine the rest of the house while James and Rose made their way upstairs.

After Rose had dumped her dresser and school stuff into a duffel bag, she headed into the bathroom to collect her toothbrush. James followed her and leaned lazily against the sink while Rose opened the medicine cabinet trying to find her toothbrush. The sink was filled to the brim with water and James playfully splashed her with a few drops.

Rose dropped her toothbrush and grabbed the nearest towel. She dried herself off in one quick motion. James looked at her suspiciously. Rose shrugged and lightly tossed her toothbrush into her bag.

"Come on. Let's go—" She was interrupted by her cell phone. A Muse song – her ringtone – was playing at full volume.

Rose flipped open the phone and held it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Rose?" Lewis responded. He sounded angry.

"What do you want, Lewis?" Rose demanded, as she followed James downstairs.

"Come back and apologize to Lily. She's really upset," Lewis said. He turned his glare towards Lily, who was fumbling with a coffee pot.

"No way. She's not my mom, she can't tell me what to do. She's just being controlling and over protective."

Lewis sighed angrily. "Rose, do you have any idea what Lily had given up for you?!"

Rose rolled her eyes. "No."

"Whatever Rose." Lewis spat coldly. "Just keep doing whatever the hell you want, regardless of who it hurts!"

And with that he hung up.

--

Rose had just finished putting all of her clothes away into the freshly-emptied drawer of Constance's dresser. She was in the mood for a hot shower, mostly to wash off all of the guilt she was feeling. Lewis's phone call had touched a soft spot and Rose's heart ached.

She stepped out into the hallway and opened the closet where Constance said all of the towels were kept.

The towels were on the bottom shelf of the closet. The higher shelves contained what appeared to be numerous wine bottles.

Rose glanced around her to make sure no one was watching her before lifting one of the wine bottles of its shelf.

Just like she suspected – the bottle wasn't filled with wine. The label on the front read _Type A_.

Rose shuddered at the thought of James drinking human blood – till she noticed a sign someone had stuck behind the bottles.

_BEN'S. DO NOT DRINK OR DIE! D-I-E. DIE._

Rose rolled her eyes and stuck the bottle back in the closet. Typical Ben.

But the bright side was that James wasn't drinking out of the bottles. Maybe he only drank animal blood or something.

Rose heard hushed whispers coming from downstairs. She peered down the stairs and saw James, Constance, and Ben gathered around the coffee table. James and Ben were arguing while Constance groomed Hugsy with a large pink hairbrush.

"We can't bring her," Ben hissed. "She's a human!"

James crossed his arms defiantly. "I know but –"

"James, Ben is right. We can't endanger Rose by bringing her." Constance said thoughtfully. She was brushing Hugsy's middle.

James sighed, defeated. "Yeah. You're right. If she's human she can't come."

"Don't look now," Ben snarled. "But I think she's listening."

Suddenly Rose felt three sets – well four, if you counted Hugsy – of eyes on her. She gulped.

"I'm not…I'm not…completely human," She said. He voice was loud and clear.

James smiled at her. "I knew it,"

Rose grinned back.

"Well then…what are you? I mean you can't be a vampire because we would have sensed it –"

Constance was cut off by Ben. "Quiet,"

"I know that you all are…vampires," Rose muttered.

James nodded. "I had a feeling,"

"Well then…what are you?" Constance questioned, while giving Hugsy a tight squeeze.

"Mermaid," Rose told them.

James smirked. "Told you!" He looked at Ben who sent him a dark frown.

Constance clapped Hugsy's flippers together. "Yay! Then you can come with us!"

"Come where?" Rose asked her.

"We're going out to dinner – wait do you have a dress, or something?"

Rose shook her head.

"Well you can borrow something of mine then," Constance left her seat and grabbed Rose's hand. "Come on. I'm sure I have something."

--

"That," Lily said, shrugging off her coat. "What humiliating!"

She was referring to the elderly customer she had spilt hot coffee all over. Lily and Lewis had to wait with the lady at a medical clinic for three hours before the burn specialist had been able to see her. The entire event had taken four hours and Lily and Lewis were both exhausted.

Lily collapsed on the couch and Lewis flicked on the TV. He flicked through the channels before settling on Legend of the Seeker. "Come on, let's watch."

Lily smiled half-heartedly as Lewis joined her on the couch. She snuggled up against him. "Ohh, this is a good episode. The main guy takes his shirt off!" Lily squealed in a fan-girly nature.

Lewis frowned. "Sounds great,"

His voice was thick with sarcasm, but Lily didn't seem to notice.

--

Constance flicked through her closet, producing dress after dress that Rose might be able to wear to dinner. All of the dresses she had offered were either too big or didn't hang right on Rose's small frame.

Rose sat dejectedly on Constance's bed, playing with Hugsy while Constance continued to browse through her dress collection.

When Constance pushed aside a lacy white number, Rose caught sight of a long purple dress with panels of glittery beading in the skirt. It tightened around the waist with a beautifully woven sash and the bust of the dress was covered in delicate beading.

"What's that?" Rose asked.

"Oh," Constance muttered. "It's my dress for a b – family thing. Yeah. A family thing,"

"It's really pretty," Rose acknowledged. Constance nodded and grinned briefly.

"Wait – what about this?" Constance pulled out a short white dress covered with small lilac flowers.

Rose nodded and Constance passed her the dress. Rose slipped it on over her head and Constance zipped it up for her in the back.

"Perfect," Constance said smiling.

--

"Reservation, for Wood." Constance told the host once Rose, James, Ben, and herself had arrived at the restaurant.

The host raised an eyebrow at Rose before Constance rushed into a quick explanation about Rose and her mermaid-ness. The host paused for a moment before shrugging and taking everyone's' coats.

The restaurant was windowless and was illuminated by a single crystal chandelier. The tables were packed with people – or vampires, Rose supposed.

James pulled Rose's chair out for her and Rose plunked down. Constance and Ben had already settled on the other side of the table. James sat down next to her and opened his menu. Rose did the same.

There was a full page devoted to different types of animal blood that was kept on tap. At the bottom of the page were the human-blood selections – Type A, Type O, Type B-negative.

A pretty waitress arrived at their table and Constance and James both gave her their orders. Ben took more time deciding before picking out a tall glass of Type A.

Rose glanced over the menu once more before noticing the restaurant did offer a few types of sodas. She asked for a Coke and the waitress nodded and left their table.

A few moments later, their drinks arrived. The waitress gave Rose her wine glass filled with Coke, and passed the other three their glass, full of a dark red liquid.

Rose shuddered slightly before taking a sip of her Coke.

--

"That guy is really, really attractive." Lily said dreamily, bringing her Coke can to her lips. Lewis had ran to the kitchen during a commercial break to make popcorn and find Coke cans.

Lewis scowled and tightened his grip on his Coke.

Lily was cuddled up against Lewis's chest, her eyes still red. But she was feeling much, much better.

"Don't you think he looks a little bit like…Ash?" Lewis asked her. Lily shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe…"

The next commercial break came on and Lewis yawned. The curtains were closed and the room was lit only by the TV and a small light resting on a side table.

Lily smiled up at him. "Thanks for staying. I know I've been an emotional mess lately."

"Anything for a friend," Lewis said.

The next thing Lewis knew he was kissing her and she was kissing him back. What seemed to go on for ages but in reality only lasted a few moments was stopped when Lily pushed away from him.

"We can't do this!" She barked.

"Do what?" Lewis asked.

"Get back together! I need a friend, not a boyfriend!" Lily screamed at him.

"Well then what are Byron and Ash?!" Lewis demanded of her. Lily went red.

"They're – they're nothing!"

"Whatever Lily. You can't realize how I feel about you because you're so blinded by Rose. Well just get used to the idea that she's just too insensitive to care about whatever you're doing! Maybe you should focus on someone who does care about you! Like me!" Lewis couldn't believe he had said that. He couldn't believe Lily's face either.

Lily stared at him. Her face was drained of all color. "She does care,"

"They why isn't she here?"

Lily paused for a moment before bursting into tears.

Lewis was taken back and tried to calm her down. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry okay. Just please calm down!" He rubbed her soothingly on the back.

Lily started to calm down and Lewis apologized for his harsh words and uttered some random explanation for it. Lily bought it and settled down on the couch, completely exhausted.

Lewis sat awkwardly beside her before she fell asleep.

Lewis turned out the lights and slipped out the front door, shutting it quietly behind him.

The first thing he saw when he stepped onto the front step was the moon.

A full moon.

_Rose_.

* * *

_It's Maddie! I had this chapter done a few days ago, but my computer had some problems so I had to re-write the chapter. It used to be much longer and more detailed. I had a really great Rose/James scene but I didn't want to re-write that because I loved how it is in the original chapter. The Lily/Lewis bit towards the end was something that I put in (through the original version was much better) because I didn't think I'd find a place to put it in later._

_Anyway, enjoy and sign up for the Fangs & Fins LiveJournal! (Link in our profile)_


	17. Contest!

**OMG – A FANGS & FINS CONTEST?!**

Okay – a change from our usually chapter updates, but we've reached **ONE HUNDRED REVIEWS** so we had to do something special! (Plus all of those H2O Season 3 goodies Kelly and I (Maddie) have been squealing about all day are certainly something to celebrate!)

_**We want all of you lovely reviewers to be a part of Fangs & Fins!**_

Intrigued? Keep Reading!

So we're having a **CONTEST!**

**BASICS:**

The idea for this contest is to create a character – a vampire character. You pick the name, the physical description – everything! If we (the writers of Fangs & Fins) like the character you create, your character will make a brief cameo appearance in an upcoming chapter and you'll get a little mention in the 'Author's Notes' part of the chapter (thus leading to people reading your stories/applauding your stunning character)

Here is the form you need to fill out to enter. You can PM this to us on Fan Fiction or send it to either of us on YouTube or Fangbook. If you think that you can squeeze your entry into a review, then do so!

**ENTRY FORM:**

**Your Username (Fan Fiction, YouTube, Etc):**

**Character Name (First AND Last, please):**

**A Physical Description of your Character (Hair color, eye color, body type, etc):**

**Your Favorite Fangs & Fins Character and Why:**

**TIPS:**

Please note that that we will select the character we think is best suited for the role. The winning character will be interacting with Rose, James, Constance, etc, so we need a character who works with the story. The best idea is to keep your character simple, yet with something fun and creative about them. If you win, we will alert you by Private Message. Then you'll receive a wee bit of further information you'll need to know to help put the finishing touches on your character.

-

If your character was _**born **_as a vampire, than an older, more traditional name would be appropriate. However, if you character was _**made**_ (bitten by another vampire) into a vampire, a name popular around the time of the character's birth is a good idea (many websites offer tables ranking the most popular names for a certain year. Simply select the year your character was born in and flip through the names popular during that year)

**RULES:**

Your character should be** original. **//_You may enter only once, sorry!_ // Please don't be a sore loser and all that crap. It's unfair to the other contestants. // _Don't copy others' characters, please!_

_-_

**The deadline for this Contest is OCTOBER 17****th****. **(If you have won, will we inform you by the 24th of October at the latest)

You have two weeks, starting today! (October 4th)

**Good Luck!**

-Kelly and Maddie


	18. Chapter 17: I’m Not Thinking Straight

**Fangs & Fins  
Chapter 17: "I'm Not Thinking Straight"**

"Oh, no," Lewis quickly reached for his phone on the coffee table. He dialed Rose's cell phone number.  
"Hi, you've reached Rose, I'm not here right now, but if you could leave your name and number I'll be sure to get back to you."  
Lewis didn't even bother leaving a message. He didn't even know what to do or where to go. He dialed the next number that came in his head.  
_Man, I hope he answers_, he thought.  
"Hello, James speaking."  
"James. Is Rose there by any chance?"  
_Please say yes. Please say yes.  
_"Yeah, hold on."  
Lewis could hear various voices in the background while he waited to hear from Rose.  
"Hello? This is Rose."  
"Rose, it's Lewis. Listen do not go out tonight, it's a full-"  
"Lewis? Why are you calling me? If this is about Lily then forget it." Rose explained to Lewis.  
"No, Rose this has nothing to do with her. Well kind of actually it does."  
"Then forget it, good bye."  
Then before he knew it, Rose had hung up on him.  
"Fine, if that's the way you feel then I hope you see the moon." Lewis said to himself. He then figured he'd better check on Lily before she starts getting moonstruck.

With Rose, she handed James his phone.  
"What did Lewis want?" James asked.  
"It wasn't important." Rose said.  
"It sure sounded important."  
"Well it wasn't! Can we just please drop this?" Rose exclaimed.  
"Sure. Yeah. Whatever."  
An awkward silence then fell upon the group.  
"So, Rose, what do you think of this place?" Constance added in.  
Rose smiled.  
Constance was always really good at cheering people up, or clearing the air in an awkward situation. "So, does anyone want any dessert?"  
Rose looked over to the far corner where the kitchen was located.  
She could see several rows of what looked like cakes, cheesecakes, cupcakes, you name it, all loaded on this giant cart that a waiter was rolling towards them.  
"How much food is on that thing?" Rose asked.  
"No idea, that's the pretty of it. But may I suggest the chocolate chip cheesecake. It is to die for." Constance said.  
Everyone stared at Constance.  
"Sorry."  
Rose was very excited to see this giant display of desserts coming towards her. She couldn't wait to get her hands on one of those delectable treats.  
Out of nowhere, Rose noticed some stupid teenage vampires heading straight for the dessert cart.  
It wasn't pretty.  
The waiter didn't see the teen vampires heading straight for him and it caused a huge mess. Not only did it cause a mess, it caused for the waiter to ruin the curtains and caused them to come tumbling down.  
James and Ben were having a hysterical fit, thinking the scene before them was hilarious.  
Rose was too busy staring at the moon that originally was being blocked from the curtains, but was now wide open.  
"Rose? Are you ok?" James said, finding Rose's staring odd.  
Ben muttered, "Crap. Rose, snap out of it!"

It took constant shaking and calling her name until she finally snapped out of it.  
"Rose? Are you ok?" James said.  
"Wait, what am I doing here?" Rose questioned.  
"What are you talking about Rose?" Constance asked.  
Rose scanned the room. None of it looked familiar. "What is this place?"  
"Aw , man." Ben said, putting his head in his hands.  
James knew what was going on. Ben had screwed up again. "Ben, what the hell did you do?"  
Ben lifted his head from his hands, "I didn't do anything…much."  
"Ben, seriously, what the hell did you do to Rose?" James was close to grabbing Ben and throwing him across the room.  
"Ok, ok, geez. All I did was make Rose more comfortable around us. Like make her less afraid of what we are."  
James knew that Ben's heart was in the right place (for once), but he still had _no_ right to do that to Rose.  
"So, let me get this straight. You hypnotized Rose into being ok that we're…" James looked at Rose.  
Rose had no idea about anything anymore. She didn't know where she was, or the fact why she was here. "What is going on? James? I'm confused."  
"Rose, it's ok. You're at a restaurant with us. It's ok." James tried to console her, but it seemed like it was no use.  
Rose scanned the room. "What kind of restaurant exactly?" She noticed that there was hardly any food on the tables. But she did notice one thing. Everyone was drinking what looked to be this red liquid of some kind. Then she heard some people asking for different types of blood types.  
"I repeat James, what is this place?" She was getting angrier by the minute. "And how the hell did I get here?"  
"It's a long story." James said. "But you can blame Ben for it."  
Ben chuckled, "Yeah, sorry about that."  
"Sorry about what? What is going on?"  
"See, that's what I did what I did!" Ben explained to James. "Then she wouldn't freak out like she's doing now."  
"You had no right to do that." James yelled at Ben.  
"You're just lucky I didn't bite her when I had the chance."  
It was all coming back to Rose again. Rose remembered Ben and her arguing. Or was he trying to hurt her? She couldn't remember. Her head was pounding a thousand beats a minute. "Just stop yelling for a minute."  
Then Rose remembered:

"Ben, what the hell do you think you're doing?!" Rose demanded.  
"I saw you checking me out."  
"Yes, you said so—"  
Ben's was smiling cockily at her. "You might be James's friend, but soon you'll be mine…after all. I really did lose my teddy bear. And I'm looking for a replacement."  
"BEN," Rose screamed, her eyes pleading with him. "Please, don't!"  
Ben opened his mouth to laugh – and Rose caught a glimpse of some razor sharp teeth.

Rose finally remembered. Constance, James, Ben, and Constance were vampires. It all made sense now. Rose practically fell out of her chair when she looked up at the four people that just so happened to be vampires.  
"What? What's wrong?" Constance asked.  
"Stay away from me!" Rose screamed. She gathered her things and headed to the doorway.  
"Rose, listen, it's not what you think. We're the good guys, I promise." James tried to console her but I didn't do anything.  
James reached out to touch her but Rose yelled, "Don't touch me!"  
"Rose!"  
"I never want to see any of you again!" Rose yelled.  
James tried to catch up with her, but he figured it was no use. All she was going to do was just yell at him so more. He sat down and knew whatever life he had was over. He just lost the girl of his dreams.  
"Cheer up. It could be worse."  
James looked at Ben. "How so?"  
"She could be dead."

* * *

_Hey guys it's Kelly. First I just want to say I am SOOO sorry for not updating sooner! It's ALL my fault! I'm just plain lazy. I hope this chapter makes up for it. I personally think it's crap. But maybe Maddie's chapter will be better then mine.  
__  
-Kelly_


	19. Chapter 18: Off To Mako

**Fangs & Fins**

**Chapter 18: "Off To Mako"**

"Okay, just breathe." Lewis said in an attempt to calm himself down. He opened the Collins' front door and walked into the living room. Lily was still asleep on the couch.

Lewis decided that Rose was in greater need of his help than Lily was, so he made sure that all of the curtains in the house were closed (and he shut the water off, just so if Lily did wake up and somehow manage to catch of the full moon, she wouldn't be able to get water on herself as well) before heading outside.

He was just walking pat Lily and Rose's neighbor's house when his phone began to ring.

"Hello?"

"Uh, Lewis?" James Wood's voice said.

"James?" Lewis asked.

"Yes. Um, is Rose with you?" James said. "She kind of flipped out on me…"

Lewis exhaled loudly. "Where are you, exactly?"

"At a restaurant, with my family. Why?"

"Okay," Lewis snapped. "I'll be at whatever restaurant you're at in a few minutes. What's the name of the restaurant?"

James gave Lewis directions and Lewis sped off towards the restaurant.

-

The second Lily was sure Lewis had left the house (he'd rushed out, phone to his ear as he waited for whoever he had called to answer) she pushed herself up from her sleeping position on the couch and went to find her cell phone.

Lily felt bad about deceiving Lewis, however after he'd kissed her and she'd told him that she need a friend, _not _a boyfriend, she became a dramatic mess, hoping he'd eventually leave. She was delighted that her plan had been successful, but at the same time she felt a little guilty.

Lily flipped through the contacts on her phone before finding the correct one and dialing.

"Ash? It's Lily. You can come over now."

A couple minutes later, Ash let himself in. He was dressed entirely in black and was carrying two large backpacks, like the kind you'd take on a hiking trip.

"Ready to kill some vampires?" He asked, smiling broadly.

Lily nodded. "Just let me go upstairs so I can change." She dashed up the stairs and into her room, and traded her shorts and T-Shirt for a pair of dark jeans and a black turtle neck.

"Ready," Lily announced, after running back down the stairs.

Ash looked her over and nodded in approval. He had spread a few maps and a large map over the kitchen counter.

"One of my friends alerted me that a vampire was in the area a few weeks ago. He's been in hiding, but apparently he's now on Mako Island." Ash pointed to Mako on the map.

"Mako?" Lily asked softly.

"Yes. We don't know where he is on the island, which is a bit of a problem. Usually, each of us would search on side of the island, but you're a little bit too inexperienced to be alone on an island with a vampire." Ash said gently. "So, I thought we'd try to trap it."

"Trap it?"

Ash smirked. "According to my friend, there is this volcano on the island. It seems like a decent place to set a trap up. Then we'll lure the vampire into the trap and kill it." Ash looked rather proud of his plan.

"What's the plan?" Lily asked.

"I'll explain it on the boat ride to Mako," Ash stated, rolling up his map and papers and tucking them into his pack.

"Come on. Let's get going." He held out his hand to Lily and the two skipped over to the front door. Ash slid outside with his backpack and Lily was about to do the same when she stopped abruptly.

_A full moon_.

* * *

_Hi, it's Maddie! Sorry that this chapter is so short! :( I promise, when it's my turn to write a chapter (Thursday & Saturday) I'll make both of those chapters very long to make up for the short-ness of this chapter!_


	20. Chapter 19: Accidents Happen

**Fangs & Fins  
Chapter 19: "Accidents Happen"**

Lily didn't want to let Ash think anything was wrong so she quickly grabbed a pair of extra dark sunglasses that were always on the end table by the front door incase this exact situation ever came up (it was Lewis' idea). "Ready!"  
Ash stared at Lily with her sunglasses and just shrugged it off. He didn't have time to understand what was going on in Lily's head. There was a vampire that needed killing.  
Ash quickly gathered all of the equipment that was needed in order to kill this blood-thirsty demon. He held up a gun that was full with wood bullets. "You ever used these?"  
"Oh yeah, cause I kill vampires on a daily basis. What do you think?" Lily retorted.  
"Oh, well you leave that to me then."  
"Aren't we wasting time just standing here?" Lily said.  
"Good point. Let's get the boat and head on over to Mako." Ash explained, heading in the direction of the dock where all the boats were located.  
"Yeah, ok." Lily said with hesitation.  
After all, Lily was going to Mako Island, at night, during a full moon. Yeah she wasn't scared at all.

Meanwhile, Lewis just reached the address that James had given him. Lewis noticed James, Constance, and Ben outside of the restaurant.  
_Hmm, that's weird. Why wouldn't they be inside?_ Lewis thought.  
Little did he know that, they just didn't want Lewis to see all the blood and everything vampire related about that restaurant.  
"Lewis, hey glad you came." James said the second he saw Lewis.  
"No problem." Lewis said, motioning towards James. "So what exactly happened? Rose flipped out?" Lewis was trying to understand what exactly happened. James was pretty frantic on the phone.  
"Yeah, basically; it's a long story. Do you know anywhere she would go?" James asked.  
Lewis thought for a minute. _Mako Island._ "Yeah, I do."

Rose continued swimming. It felt like she was swimming for hours and yet she didn't care. She wanted to go someplace where she could think, and that place was always Mako Island.  
As she reached the shore she thought of all the events that had happened that day. Going to the restaurant, and finding out that she was being under Ben's spell all this time. And the worst thing of all was that James was a vampire. She certainly knew he was, but the fact that she had been ok with it was cringe-worthy.  
All she knew was she needed to be in the moon pool, so she could think.  
She quickly motioned her hand into a fist, quickly drying her mermaid tail into her two legs. She then walked aimlessly towards the volcano where the moon pool was located.  
She suddenly paused.

She glanced at the nearby bush. _Did that bush just move?_ Rose thought. She decided to shrug it off and keep on walking.  
She realized she could have easily swum into the moon pool, but she needed time to think, and she thought that simply walking to the moon pool would give her some distractions, and she definitely could use some of that right about now.

When Lily and Ash had finally gotten here by boat, she was so glad to get on land.  
_It would have been so much quicker had I just swum here,_ Lily thought. But she realized she couldn't have done that.  
"Ok, let's go and start setting up this trap." Ash said.  
"Ok, sure." Lily said.  
While they were walking, Lily could have sworn she saw tracks that head towards the moon pool. "It's, none of my business," Lily told herself. She decided it was better to just leave it alone.

With Rose, she was admiring the scenery. She always loved just walking around this beautiful island. While she was aimlessly walking, simply minding her own business, she noticed more movement coming towards her. _  
What the-?_ She thought.  
She decided to investigate and see what it was.  
_It's probably just an animal,_ she told herself.  
She got closer and closer to where the noise was coming from.  
When she reached the area, she noticed noise coming from another bush.  
She walked towards it, very hesitant.  
When she got closer to the bush, she peered inside of it.  
She noticed two eyes staring back at her.  
_Is it a human or an animal?_ Rose wondered. "It's ok, I won't hurt you."  
She reached her hand out towards the figure. Rose had seen this done in a lot of animal movies. You need to gain the animal's trust first by having them smell/sniff you.  
Whatever was in the bush started to creep closer towards her hand.  
When she thought the creature was going to grab her hand or sniff it, they did the exact opposite.  
The figure bit down hard on Rose's wrist.  
She could feel the blood being painfully sucked away from her body.  
This wasn't a cute fuzzy animal or a human in need of help; this was a vampire.  
Rose let out an agonizing scream.  
She tried to move her wrist away from the vampire, but it was no use: he had a grip on it from both his teeth and his own hand.  
Rose let out another painful scream.

Where Lily and Ash were, they heard her scream loud and clear.  
"Do you hear that?" Lily asked.  
"Yeah, so?" Ash said.  
"It sounds like Rose." Lily explained.

At this rate the vampire was going to suck the life out of Rose. She could already feel herself getting weaker.  
She needed to find a way for the vampire to let go.  
Fortunately she was wearing heels from that horrid dinner, so she took off the very high heels and threw it at her.  
By the sound of it, it worked.  
"Ow!" the vampire yelled.  
With her hand now free she ran as fast as she could, which wasn't very fast since she now was running barefoot.  
Who knew what gross and disgusting things were on the ground?  
She ran as fast as she could, as far as she could.  
But she wasn't successful for very long, she eventually tripped on an unseen tree branch lying on the ground.  
She knew this was the end for her.  
She was going to die.

* * *

_Hello guys! :) Sorry it's late...I went to see "It's Complicated" & then I got busy/lazy. But hey, i uploaded it right! :)  
PLEASEEEE review!!!! We literally got like 1 review on ch. 18. I know we haven't updated in awhile (my bad)..but PLEASE review!  
Hope you guys liked this chapter. You can tell i've been watching/reading too much "Vampire Diaries"..lol. And tomorrow is a full moon & a blue moon at that. (Meaning it's going to be HUGE!) Can't wait! So expect a LONGGG chapter for that one._

-Kelly


	21. Chapter 20: The Aftermath

**Fangs & Fins  
Chapter 20: "The Aftermath"**

Lily and Ash had just begun to set their vampire trap, how effective it was Lily had no idea.  
"Are you sure this will work?" Lily asked Ash.  
"Totally, the vampire won't know what's coming."  
_Ash was certainly cocky sometimes_, Lily thought. It certainly annoyed her at the moment. Especially when she was still worried about that scream that she heard.  
"Now what do we do?" Lily asked him.  
"We wait." Ash replied.  
They didn't have to wait for very long to hear some activity coming towards the other end of the island.  
"See, what'd I tell you? My plan is flaw less." Ash explained.  
"Whatever," Lily mumbled.  
They both heard even more noises coming from the opposite of where they were standing.  
"Who's there?" Lily said, obviously scared.  
When the person appeared, Lily was shocked.  
"Lewis, what are you doing here?" She asked.  
"Um, well, I figured Rose would be here. I could ask you the same question. Last I left you; you were sleeping on the couch." Lewis said, obviously confused. But at the moment he wasn't concerned about Lily; he was more concerned about Rose.  
More people came into the clearing. "Hey Lewis, is she here?" James asked.  
"No guys, but let's keep looking. I'm sure we can find her." Lewis told James, Constance and Ben.  
"What are they doing here?" Ash asked.  
"I could ask you the same question." James replied.  
"Ok guys, enough, were here to find Rose." Constance said, trying to disband the fighting.  
As if on cue another scream was heard.  
"I think I found her." Lily said.  
"Get away from me!" The voice screamed.  
"It's Rose and she's in trouble." James yelled.

"I'll help her," Ash reached into his pack and pulled out a small hand gun, which Lily assumed, was loaded with wooden bullets.  
"No, I will." James said. "I'm not going to let you kill the vamp.." Constance shoved James and pointed to Lewis, who was looking at Ash's gun in disbelief.  
"I mean ferocious creature that is attacking Rose," James finished lamely. He took off and Ash followed.  
"Lily can I talk to you?" Lewis demanded, grabbing Lily roughly by the arm and dragging her over behind a set of trees and away from Constance and Ben who were looking around awkwardly.  
"I thought you were sleeping."  
"I was," Lily insisted.  
"But you acted like you were, so I'd leave. You know you could have just told me."  
"Lewis, you don't understand!" Lily cried.  
"Well why not?!" Lewis howled back.  
"You know what? I'll tell you! I'll tell you everything! I couldn't tell you that Ash was coming over because he's a vampire hunter."  
Lewis raised an eyebrow. "A what?"  
"And James? Yeah, he's a vampire."

"Listen," Ash said, trailing after James. "Here is what we'll do: you get Rose out of the way and leave the vampire to Me."  
"No. I'm not letting you kill it," James panted. "Were getting Rose out of the way, killing is a last resort."  
"I came here to kill it! I can't go back empty handed!" Ash complained.  
"Well you're going to have to. Rose!" James ran ahead, he'd spotted Rose, who was being forced against a tree by a vampire.  
James rushed forward and stepped in between the vampire and Rose, pushed the vampire away from Rose and closer to Ash, who pointed his gun at the unsuspecting vampire's back and pulled the trigger.  
The vampire howled in pain and struck out at the closest target: James.  
James delivered a sharp blow to the vampire's abdomen. The vampire nearly collapsed onto the ground as the wound from Ash's gunshot and James' punch began to take their affect. He gathered enough strength to sprint away from the clearing and was gone in seconds.  
James lashed out on Ash. "You idiot, I told you not to shoot it!"  
"One shot isn't going to kill it," Ash said coolly. "Come on. Let's get Rose out of here."  
Rose was bleeding all over, her feet stung from running barefoot and she had various cuts all over her legs and arms. Her dress and coat were ripped to shreds and several twigs were in her hair.  
"Rose," James said tenderly, helping her up.  
"Go away!" Rose snapped, shoving James away. "Just go away."  
James' face was agonized. "Ash," he said softly. "Can you carry her back to Lily and Lewis? They'll take care of her."  
Ash nodded and passed James his gun before scooping Rose up and heading towards the direction where they'd left Lily, Lewis, Constance and Ben.  
Rose, James said warily, taking Roses hand, "I'm sorry."  
"Save your breath." Rose replied. She snuggled up against Ash's jacket.  
James sighed, defeated.

"Rose," Lily cried, as soon as she saw Ash carrying Rose. She ran over and hugged Roses head.  
"Oh Rose," Constance said sadly, examining Roses injuries.  
"We should get her back to the boat." Lewis said.  
"Yeah," Ash said, already walking in that direction.  
James trailed a little bit behind the group with Ben. The two were quietly arguing, so Lily couldn't pick up the gist of what they were saying.  
Ash loaded Rose onto his boat (which was a lot bigger than Lewis') and Constance, Lewis, and Lily followed. Lewis helped get the motor started on his own boat (which Ben and James had volunteered to sail back to shore).

"Can you tell her, to um…call me?" James asked Lewis weakly.  
"Yeah, I will." Lewis responded, waving to James and closing the Collins' front door.  
Ash came racing back downstairs. "Lily's washing Rose down. She says there is disinfectant stuff in one of the cabinets." Ash opened one of the kitchen cabinets and dug through the contents.  
Lewis opened a different cabinet and passed Ash a tub of disinfectant.  
"Thanks," Ash raced back up the stairs.  
Lewis sighed and rubbed his temples. "God, what an awful night."  
Then the phone rang.  
"Collins," Lewis answered automatically.  
"Um, hi, Lewis?" Constance Wood said.  
"Oh. Hi, Constance. "

"Huh?"  
"I was wondering if maybe you'd like to get coffee or something." Constance repeated, much slower this time.  
Lewis paused for a moment. "You know what, that sounds great, really great."  
"Cool! We can um, talk about it at school tomorrow."  
"Yeah, we will." Lewis smiled slightly.  
"See you tomorrow!" Constance squealed before hanging up the phone.

"I'm going to school, Lily!" Rose proclaimed, shoving her English textbook into her schoolbag.  
"Rose, you were nearly killed last night!" Lily threw her hands in the air.  
"I have an English exam today that I would really prefer not to miss," Rose added, sitting down next to Lewis and pouring herself a glass of juice.  
"Lewis, what do you think?" Lily said, looking at Lewis, her eyes narrowed dangerously.  
Lewis shrugged and took a bite of egg. He'd rushed home at an ungodly hour (five am), showered, changed, and grabbed his school stuff before rushing back to the Collins' for breakfast.  
"Lily, I feel perfectly fine." Rose persisted. "If I feel weird I'll go home, alright?"  
Lily bit her lip. "Fine," She sat down across from Lewis and Rose and helped herself to some eggs.  
"So, what did you do last night?" Lily asked Lewis. She'd spent the entire night playing nurse to Rose, while Lewis crashed downstairs on the couch.  
"Slept," Lewis said. "And, um, Constance she called, and she um, sort of asked me out for coffee."  
Lily absolutely beamed. "Good for you,"  
"Yeah," Rose agreed, sipping her juice. "Even if Constance is you know, a vampire."  
"I thought she was like, your best friend." Lily said, buttering her toast.  
"She's a vampire!" Rose said again, cutting into her eggs violently.  
Lewis and Lily exchanged looks.  
"Well, it's time for school, isn't it?" Lily said, collecting everyone's plates and dumping them into the sink.  
"Yup, school!" Lewis said awkwardly, tugging his jacket on.

Rose turned the dial on her locker and opened the door, only to see two dozen red roses stuffed inside of it.  
She looked around warily and yanked her Science book out from behind the roses before slamming the door shut and stomping away, before nearly crashing into Ben.  
"Hey," He said sullenly. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry."  
Rose looked at his face. He actually looked like he meant it. "It's um, its okay, I guess."  
She went down to met Lily and Lewis for lunch, her Science book tucked away in her bag for her next class.  
Lily and Lewis were nowhere to be seen, so she settled down on the grass and answered a text message her father had sent earlier that morning.  
While tucking her phone away she noticed James coming up to her.  
"Hey."

* * *

_Hey guys, it's Kelly. So did you love it? Oh, fyi, this is a chapter that both Maddie & I wrote. I wrote the beginning, Maddie the end. Happy New Year!!! :)  
I tried to see if I could see the full moon (& blue moon), cause I usually see it...but sadly I didn't, soo...Anywayyy..  
I just want to take a moment to say a really long & cheesy message to you all:  
Here goes, first off thank you SO much to reading this series. It was originally just an idea that popped into my head & that was way back in April of '09. And then I talked to the lovely Maddie, and she offered to participate in this crazy fanfiction and we started planning from April until June, coming up with the beginning & the end. (I think this is the only series where I actually know what happens in the end, and NO i won't spoil it. That's something that Maddie&I only know). I just want to thank all of our readers, thank you for reading & leaving reviews. The more reviews you leave, the quicker we come out with chapters. Remember that! :) Also for people that watch my videos & are subscribed to me..thank you TONS! (I'm sure Maddie would want to say the same thing). I almost have 1,000 (and after being on youtube for 5 years I deserve it).  
Enough about me, there is another person I want to thank. The lovely MADDIE!!!! :D I know I've only known you for like a year & online for that matter, but I love being a part of Cariba Net & writing this story with you. You really helped make F&F what it is today. I just had the idea of mermaids&vampires & you took it to a WHOLE other level. So thank you tons. Can't wait for ANOTHER exciting year of being apart of Cariba Net & hopefully seeing Season 3 of H2O!  
That is all. See, wasn't that long & cheesy. That's ok..embrace the cheese. :)_

Goodnight &&&& HAPPY NEWWW YEAR!!! 2010, that's weird..haha double digits.

-Kelly


	22. Chapter 21: Love Bites

**Fangs & Fins  
****Chapter 21: "Love Bites"**

Rose didn't even bother saying hi. She simply grabbed her iPod and put it on full wasn't going to just give up.  
He spoke louder so he could be hard over the loud music. "How are feeling today? Everything ok?"  
Rose didn't even glance at him.  
"Rose, I'm sorry ok. It's not my fault, it was Ben's." James could tell that Rose was annoyed with him.  
Rose gave him a smug look, gathered her things and tried to head towards her next class, but James got in the way.  
Rose was trying to speed walk straight to her class, but James being a vampire sped up to her and blocked her path. Rose had enough. "James, STOP! What part of 'I hate you' don't you understand?"  
"Rose, it wasn't my fault." James explained.  
"Yeah it is. You're a vampire; everything I hate!" Rose continued. "Do you know that both my brother and my mother were killed by a vampire?"  
James thought it was time to tell her more of the truth. "Actually yes."  
Rose just looked at her. "What? Yes?"  
"Remember when you saw your mother being dragged outside? Well, that little boy was…"  
"You." Rose finished his sentence. She was in utter shock. "So wait a minute, that was you?"  
"Yes." James could tell he was really hurting Rose, but he knew if he didn't tell her this now this would come up later and it would probably hurt Rose even more. "But wait, there's more." James continued. He really didn't want to say this next part.  
"What is it?" Rose murmured, her eyes slowly watering.  
"The person that killed your mother and brother…"  
Rose had all her attention on James, even though she hated him.  
"He was… my father." There it was all out in the open. Even though James felt better telling Rose the truth, he looked at Rose and she was so distraught  
Rose's mouth quivered. "What?"  
"It's true. I'm so sorry." And James truly was. "If you don't want to speak to me ever again I understand."  
"So wait, you knew all this time and you didn't even tell me?" Rose couldn't believe it.  
She remembered the time where she was standing face to face with Mr. Wood, she knew there was something familiar about him.  
"Yes I knew. I just didn't want to hurt you even more." James explained. In his head he was thinking, _She hates me, she totally hates me._  
"Well, congratulations you've hurt me. Feel any better?" Rose was on the verge of a breakdown. She tried so hard to keep it together, as to not to cause a scene in front of the entire school.  
Rose didn't want to be standing next to James, let alone standing in the same building as him. "Enjoy your life without me. I don't want to see you ever again."  
Rose then quickly found the nearest exit and bolted for it.  
She saw Lily staring at her, but she didn't care.  
Lily looked at the direction where Rose was running from and noticed James.  
_Typical, _Lily thought.  
She walked right up to James and yelled, "What did you do this time?"  
James replied, "I told her the truth."  
"What does that mean?" Lily questioned.  
"Nothing, it's nothing." James really did not want to make yet another Collins sister hate him.  
"You know James, one day you are going to push her way too far and I don't even want to think of the result of that."  
But what Lily didn't know is that he already had.

Rose raced home. Lily was right, she shouldn't have gone to school today. She opened the door to her home and quickly shut it.  
She threw her backpack on the living room couch and screamed with anger.  
She ran into her room and looked at all of her stories and other writings that she had worked hours on and all for her mom.  
She took a huge chunk of then into her hands and ripped them up furiously. She ripped them into the tiniest pieces possible. She didn't even want to look at them.  
Tears were streaming down her face so quickly.  
After ripping up what used to be her precious stories she noticed another very precious thing to her. The photograph of the last picture that was taken of her mother, on the day that her mother died. She moved towards the picture frame, and remember how she threw a fit over the picture frame getting broken, now she didn't even want to look at the thing.  
She took the picture frame in her hands and threw it on the ground, breaking the picture frame and probably the picture in the process.  
She then ventured into a room she had never been in since when she was little.  
Which was Elliot's room.  
Even though Byron stayed in here, she didn't even care if she was invading his privacy.  
She crawled into Elliot's old bed (which Byron clearly forgot to make), pulled the covers over her and just cried.

* * *

_ I am SOOO sorry for posting so late..but atleast i'm posting it right? Here's my story: So i wrote this & finished it around 1pm, but then when i put it up on here the format was wayyy off (if something is off let me know), so I had to fix it, but then my internet stopped working..and then i had to go to work from 4-11..so got back & finished it.  
So here you go. Hope you like it! :)_

-Kelly


	23. Chapter 22: Coffee And Ice Cream

**Fangs & Fins**

**Chapter 22: "Coffee And Ice Cream"**

* * *

"Do you know what hurts the most about a broken heart? Not being able to remember how you felt before." – Cassie, _Skins_.

* * *

Lily trudged home, struggling under the weight of all of the books stuffed into her bag. And unlocked her front door and went up stairs to change into her work close, when she noticed the door to Elliot's room was open.

Lily cautiously stuck her head around the door frame. "Byron…"

She spotted Rose's mess of light blonde curls sticking out from under Elliot's duvet and approached the bed.

Rose was asleep, curled up under the duvet, gripping the sheets tightly. Rose's eyes were rimmed with red, so Lily figured she had been crying.

This was all stupid James's fault. She swore to God, she was going to borrow one of Ash's wooden-bullet guns and shoot James multiple times. She made a mental note to have a very violent talk with very sharp objects with James tomorrow at school.

She should be ecstatic – Rose was showing emotion – rage, passion, hatred, sadness…the list went on and on. Rose was _caring_. But if it was going to hurt her – than Lily preferred the silent, blasé Rose.

She carefully wrapped her arms around her little sister and gave her a hug.

-

"So," Lewis began, smiling at Constance. "Where is your favorite place to get coffee?"

"What's _your_ favorite?" Constance asked, taking his hand.

Lewis thought for a moment. "There is this nice coffee house a few blocks that way," He pointed in the direction of the coffeehouse.

"Let's go,"

Upon arriving at the coffeehouse, Lewis went up to the register and ordered to coffees for him and Constance. While paying, Lily sent him a text message asking him to come over once his date was finished and to bring some ice cream. Lewis shrugged and tucked his phone in his pocket.

He passed Constance her drink and sat down across from her.

-

Rose woke up in Lily's arms. Lily was frantic, telling Rose how she didn't deserve this and that she was sorry. She was constantly hugging Rose's head.

"Lily," Rose said, attempting to get up. "I'm okay –"

"Rose, don't lie to me!" Lily snapped, jumping away from the bed. "I saw the mess in your room! You're not okay!"

Rose bit her lip and she turned away from her sister, curling up in a little ball again.

-

"She hasn't moved in a few hours or so," Lily explained to Lewis as he opened the Collins's front door, holding the tub of ice cream Lily requested.

"Oh well, more for us, right?" Lewis said, removing the ice cream lid and passing Lily a spoon.

"No thanks," Lily said. "That's for Rose, don't eat it." She grabbed the ice cream from Lewis's eager hands and put it away in the freezer.

"So," Lily said enthusiastically. "How was your date with Constance?"

"Great," Lewis said. "But…"

"But what?"

Lewis looked at her. "She wanted me to kiss her, you know? And I was kind of scared that she might have…_fangs_ or something. So I just kissed her on the cheek and told her I'd call her."

"Lewis! She doesn't have fangs!" Lily shrieked.

"How do you know?" Lewis questioned, looking at the freezer door hopefully.

"I'm like, 99.9% sure that Rose has kissed James. And nothing happened to her."

Lewis snorted. "Have you seen your sister lately? I'd say a _lot_ has happened."

"Emotionally, yes." Lily said. "Physically, not really. He didn't bite her."

"Are you sure? I mean, it's not like he didn't want to bite her or anything. Maybe he has…and you just don't know it." Lewis watched happily while Lily brought the ice cream out of the freezer and gave him a spoon. "Maybe he did bite her. She's have like, two little circular wounds on her skin."

Lily nearly dropped her spoon before rushing upstairs. Lewis heard her cursing as he followed her up the stairs. She threw open the door to Elliot's/Byron's bed room and stomped over to Rose.

Rose was still in her little-ball position, fast asleep. Lily motioned to Lewis to turn the lights on and she examined Rose's neck.

"Oh God," Lily said faintly. Lewis looked over Lily's shoulder. If you looked close enough at Rose's neck, you could see two very faint little circular scars.

"He bit her," Lily gasped. "He bit her. I thought she'd just cut herself or something but he…" She trailed off.

"I'm going to _kill him_!" She stood up and headed in the direction of the staircase.

Lewis turned the lights out and followed Lily back down stairs. She grabbed her coat and thrust Lewis's coat into Lewis's hands.

"Where are we going?" Lewis asked, as Lily sprinted down the street.

"Take me to James's house. Where you dropped Constance off,"

"Actually I didn't drop her off at home, I – " Lewis corrected before Lily cut him off.

"Just take me to his HOUSE!" Lily screamed.

"Yes ma'am!" Lewis said. Lily rolled her eyes and grabbed his arm.

-

Lily rang the doorbell and Lewis hung back on the porch, feeling incredibly awkward.

Constance answered the door. "Hi guys!"

"Where is your brother?" Lily asked sweetly.

"Which one?"

"_James_," Lily said.

"Um," Constance glanced over her shoulder momentarily. "He's in his room. First door on the left."

"Thanks,"

Lily took off up the stairs, leaving Lewis to talk to Constance and Ben, who was watching TV while relaxing in an armchair.

She pushed James's door open. He was lying on his bed, reading a book.

"Lily?" He asked, surprised. "What are you doing –"

"You bit my sister," Lily said quietly.

-

Rose was just starting to wake up, rubbing sleep from her eyes when a voice caught her off guard.

"You're in my bed."

* * *

_Hi, it's Maddie! Hope you like this chapter, remember to review! :)_


	24. Chapter 23: Reminded 247

**Fangs & Fins  
Chapter 23: "Reminded 24/7"**

"What?" Rose looked into the eyes of the person in front of her.  
She breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, it's you Byron."  
Byron didn't even react, he just stood there motionless.  
Rose quickly got out the covers, "Yeah, sorry about that."  
Byron didn't even say anything.  
Rose expected him to say like, "Oh, that's ok", or "No worries," something the old Byron would say before he moved. In fact, the more Rose realized that this new Byron was very different from the friendly and care-free Byron that he used to be.  
"Are you ok, Byron? You seem sort of out of it." Rose looked at him.  
It looked like he hadn't slept in weeks, but then again Rose noticed that Byron wasn't exactly here that often. She also noticed his expression. From the looks of it, it seemed like he was either hurt or that he was trying to restrain from doing from something very reckless, or perhaps both.  
Byron said, "Yeah, I'm fine…just a little tired." Byron then looked at Rose's red-rimmed eyes and somewhat messy hair. "The question is, are you ok? It looks like you've been crying."  
Rose replied, "Um, it's nothing, really." When in fact it really was, it was a life changing matter. To her it was like life didn't even matter anymore.  
Byron then noticed some of the faint scratches and bruises that were still fairly visible on Rose's arms and elsewhere. "What happened to you?"  
At first Rose had no idea what he was talking about, but she realized that just last night she was attacked by a bloodthirsty vampire. Byron was talking about her cuts and bruises. "Oh, it looks worse than it is." False; Rose was beginning to get irritated at all the achiness and she remembered how painful it was last night. "I'm fine, don't worry."  
Then as usual awkward silence occurred. Lily was always a much better talker then Rose, she always had tons to say in order to fill those awkward moments.  
"Well, I better go and find Lily, I'm sure she's worried about me."  
"No one's home; it's just the two of us." Byron explained.  
_Just great,_ Rose thought. Before, Rose used to love Byron, but now he was definitely on her creepy radar.  
Rose started to leave. "Well, I'll be out of your hair."  
The minute she was out the door, Byron immediately shut the door.  
Because of this, Rose stood by the door to maybe eavesdrop on something. Rose remembered she always did this to Lily.  
Fortunately these doors were not 100% sound proof so Rose could pretty much hear everything.  
Rose could hear him dialing numbers into a cell phone, and then he started talking to whoever was on the line.  
Rose only caught bits and pieces like: "I know I was stupid, but I'm sure to finish the job the next time," and "Let's just say things didn't go as planned," and "How was I supposed to know they were going to be there!"  
After that Rose got bored and figured she needed another distraction otherwise more waterworks would occur.

While Rose was heading towards to watch TV, Lily and Lewis were still integrating James.  
"I did _not_ bite Rose!" James yelled. But then the more James thought about it, the more he remembered. "Oh."  
"Oh? James did you or did you not bite Rose?" Lily was trying so hard to get an answer from James.  
James started pacing back and forth in his room. "Well, not on purpose."  
"James, that isn't an answer!"  
Good thing Lewis wasn't hearing all this, he was too busy talking to Constance, although he still found her being a vampire quite odd.  
James began explaining the time he poofed into Rose's bedroom and had to quickly leave (or otherwise more damage could have been done to Rose). James had purposely forgotten to mention about how Rose was the little girl that he saw about six years ago.  
"Why were you even there in the first place?" Lily shouted.  
_Man, I feel sorry for Rose, having to put up with Lily's constant yelling,_ James thought.  
Lily knew she was tough and probably rude at times, but she just wanted answers.  
"It's a long story." James replied.

Meanwhile with Rose, she was channel surfing, hoping that would take her mind off of her current problem. She saw titles that she particularly didn't want to see. _Interview with a Vampire_, _True Blood, _even _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_.  
"Argh!" she yelled at the TV.  
She flipped to another channel and noticed a movie that she wasn't familiar with, or perhaps was just didn't realize it at first.  
"I know what you are." The girl on the TV screen said, "Vampire."  
Rose figured it was _Twilight_.  
"Are you afraid?" the guy that was supposed to be the vampire.  
Then Bella said, "No."  
Rose quickly switched the channel.  
Under her breath she muttered, "Stupid Bella."  
She switched to a channel where a male with somewhat spikey brown hair was being convinced by his cute as a button brunette girlfriend to try out for there's school's football team.  
"Football's a great sport, but you've forgotten one thing."  
"What's that?" the girlfriend said.  
"I'm a loner."  
Rose chuckled. She continued to watch the show, enjoying it.  
Then later on the show, during the football practice and the girlfriend's cheerleading practice, a pretty blonde was being driven to the practice.  
The driver was very handsome.  
"Oh, he's cute," Rose said to herself, as she stuck her spoon in the ice cream container that she had found in the freezer. She figured Lily had bought her some.  
The blonde girl was wearing a scarf around her neck.  
Rose remembered the time she wore a scarf when she had those weird cuts on her neck.  
Then the blonde on the television said to the girlfriend of the football player loner, "I got the other brother."  
Then a giant close up of the gorgeous driver, apparently "the other brother".  
Then a commercial break.  
"Aw man," Rose said. She really wanted to see that hot guy.  
Rose wondered what this show was called. When she looked at the title, she gasped. _The Vampire Diaries._  
"Why does everyone love vampires!?"  
Rose decided to switch it to _Glee._  
"Much better."  
She then glanced over to the left of the television. She noticed pictures where there that featured her mother, Lily and her.  
She went over to where the picture frame was located and moved it upside down.  
Rose knew she wasn't going to keep a straight face for much longer.  
And as soon as she called it, the waterworks came.

* * *

_I really didn't know what to write about (sorry for the delay btw)..so sorry if it sucks.  
Can anyone guess what Vampire Diaries episode that was?? (I'll give you a cookie..if you do, haha).  
You can tell what I did this weekend. Yep, watch Glee & VD. I just bought the Glee Season 1 vol. 1 DVD & loveee it! :) I'm a total Gleek._

Anyway, REVIEW! :)) please!  
The more reviews the more Maddie&I might spoil a few things about future chapters!

_-Kelly_


	25. Chapter 24: An Invitation

**Fangs & Fins:**

**Chapter 24: "An Invitation"**

"Wow," Lily sank down into James's desk chair. "Just…_wow_."

"Yeah," James said quietly. He had just explained everything to Lily and he actually felt a little bit better.

Lily rubbed her forehead. "I think Lewis and I should go…"

She got up and collected her jacket from the floor before heading out of James's bedroom and back down the stairs.

Lewis and Constance were seated on the couch. Constance was showing Lewis a large stuffed animal penguin (Lily later learned that his name was Hugsy). Constance snatched a small brush off the table which she offered to Lewis so he could brush Hugsy. Lewis awkwardly brushed Hugsy's middle before Lily grabbed him roughly on the shoulder.

"Come on Lewis, it's time to go."

Lewis gave Constance Hugsy's brush and Lily waved goodbye to both Constance and Ben.

After Lily told Lewis everything James had told her, Lewis spoke up:

"Constance and I are going out for lunch on Saturday," Lewis declared cheerfully.

Lily grabbed Lewis's arm happily. "You should take her to that place where we took Rose for her birthday last year. The food was excellent, remember?"

Lewis nodded thoughtfully. "I guess I'll make a reservation tonight."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.

"Let's see…I don't have the number…do you have it back at your house?"

"Actually," Lily whipped out her phone. "I think I saved the number from when I made the reservation last year…"

Suddenly a low growl escaped from a nearby bush.

"What was that?!" Lily exclaimed, just as a person – a vampire, Lily supposed appeared from the bush.

The vampire lashed out on Lily, tackling her to the ground.

"Lily!"

Lewis grabbed a huge stick that was lying on the ground and bashed it into the vampire's back.

-

Rose was wiping away hot tears away from her eyes when there was a knock at the door.

"BYRON. ANSWER THE DOOR!"

A disgruntled Byron sauntered downstairs, his phone in hand.

"Okay, God…" He muttered, opening the door.

Rose went back to wiping her tears off her cheeks, when Byron came into the living room and dropped a package on Rose's lap.

"It's for you or something," Byron said, heading in the direction of the stairs.

Rose looked at the package suspiciously before ripping the paper off and opening the package.

Inside where two crisp, white envelopes. Rose opened the first one and pulled out the paper inside.

_YOU HAVE BEEN INVITED:_

_TO THE 765__th __ANNUAL VAMPIRE BALL_

_HOSTED BY THE WOOD FAMILY_

The rest of the invitation was composed of dates, times, and directions, as well as an RSVP number.

Rose read the invitation six times before opening the second envelope, only to discover that it contained the another invitation.

_These must be from Constance,_ Rose thought. She flipped the envelope over and spotted Constance's return address in the corner.

James would most definitely be there, it was hosted by his family. Maybe she should go…

Rose grabbed the phone from the side table and dialed the RSVP number. A woman answered the phone and Rose RSVP'ed, hung up, and began to cry again.

-

"Get off him!" Lily shouted, trying to pull the vampire off of Lewis (who'd been bitten on his arms and hands).

Lily franticly looked around. She grabbed a small branch and stabbed it at the vampire torso.

Nothing, the branch practically bounced off the vampire's skin.

She dug around in her bag, praying that she had one of the weapons Ash had leant her stored in there.

Yes! Lily extracted a knife with a wooden blade and stabbed.

A river of blood erupted from the vampire's back and the vampire screamed. He dipped his head down to Lewis's stomach but he couldn't seem to get his fangs to come out. Lily stabbed him again and again on his back, and after a few more screams, the vampire buckled down on top of Lewis.

"LEWIS," Lily pulled him out from under the vampire and hugged him.

"Lily…"

"Are you alright, Oh God – you've been bitten everywhere!"

"Lily, I'm fine!" Lewis assured her. "Let's just go to your house, okay?"

Lily nodded and grabbed his arm.

-

Rose had successfully managed to make her way upstairs (with a little help from Byron, who had been raiding the fridge when he's spotted Rose dragging herself up the stairs) and had just collapsed on her bed when she heard the front door open.

"Rose?" Lily yelled. Rose could hear her trotting up the stairs (most likely accompanied by Lewis)

"What?!" Rose called back moodily.

"Rose," Lily panted, as she and Lewis appeared in Rose's doorframe. "We were attacked!"

"By who?!" Rose said, sitting up on her bed.

Lily looked at Lewis.

"I don't know."

* * *

_Hi, it's Maddie! I am so sorry this is late, but I had a busy weekend. My friend's grandmother had a stroke and was in the hospital all weekend. So I volunteered to spend the weekend with my friend to cheer her up and I had no internet access (my friend and I mostly studied for finals which are next week for us, unfortunately. But then again we do get the majority of the week after off so I'm not complaining too much…). And then on both Monday and Tuesday (when I promised myself I'd write and post this chapter) Bones Season 2 episodes were on and my inner Hodgins/Angela shipper couldn't resist…_

_Anyway, Kelly and I are trying to get Fangbook running again, but for some reason Fangbook won't let either of us post new entries. I'm nearly done putting together the pdf files for the second and third volume of Fangs & Fins which I will post on Fangbook as soon as it's working again. Kelly and I also plan on posting a few spoilers for upcoming chapters as well. We're also putting a fanmix together and a few other things._

_As for our contest, I'm compiling the entries and Kelly and I will discuss them very soon! We'll inform the winner in a couple of days._

_I hope you guys like this chapter, please remember to review!_


	26. Chapter 25: A New Way of Seeing

**Fangs & Fins**

**Chapter 25: "A New Way of Seeing"**

_Please don't say it, please don't say it,_ Rose thought. She knew who attacked Lewis. Well, not who, but what. It had to be a vampire. Who else could do all that damage? But still, she didn't want it to be true.

"We don't know who, but we know for a fact it was a vampire." Lily explained to Rose.

Rose was so not in the mood for this right now. She had had enough of vampires.

"Rose? Can you help me with Lewis?" Lily asked. Lily also knew that she couldn't do this alone.

"Guys, I'm fine. It's no big deal." Lewis murmured.

"Lewis, no you're notཀ You are the exact opposite of fine." Lily told him. Then she turned to Rose. "Rose? Are you gonna just stand there or what?"

Rose wasn't even listening to Lily; she just kept staring at Lewis' wounds. His bites and marks that were caused by a vampire.

"Rose? Hello? Earth to Rose?" Lily said annoyed. She tried to get her younger sister's attention.

"Whatཀ?" Rose finally managed to say.

"What is with you? I know you've had a thing with vampires lately, but this is ridiculousཀ" Lily retorted.

"Lily, you don't get itཀ" Rose tried to explain. But it was no use, she didn't understand.

"Get what? How one guy just so happened to be a vampire whom you fell in love with for like what a month or so? You wanna know what I think?" Lily was sick of her younger sister trying to be such a little martyr.

Rose didn't even say anything, she just kept on saying nothing as usual; like the old blase Rose.

"I think that you're acting ridiculous. Why can't you get over it and stop acting like such a drama queen little bitchཀ Life moves on." Immediately after Lily said those last sentences, she instantly regretted them. "Rose, I didn't mean it-"

"No, it's fine. Sorry if I've been such a burden on your life. Enjoy your drama free life." Rose ran downstairs and instantly out of the Collin's home. She could start to feel the tears stream down her face. _Come on Rose, stop being such a little baby and grow up,_ Rose tried to tell herself. It was no use, the tears came anyway.

"Is there a problem?"

Rose glanced in the direction of the voice.

It was none other then Byron, standing not farther then her.

"No, I'm fine," Rose explained, trying to quickly wipe away any evidence that she was crying a minute ago.

"Well, you don't look fine," Byron said, glancing at her current state. "Anything you want to talk about?" Byron started to inch closer to her.

"No, not really." Rose just wanted to get out of this awkward situation.

"Come on, you can tell me. We're friends aren't we?" With every word he said, he crept closer and closer to her.

Rose finally caved in. "It's just, nothing has ever gone right for me. I'm just so sick of itཀ I just want to feel happy againཀ"

Byron was near inches from her face. "I think I can help with that."

And then the next thing Rose knew, Byron was kissing Roseཀ And he was right, for the first time, she felt happy; she felt aliveཀ

Soon enough, the kissing had grown intense. Byron had moved from kissing her lips to kissing her neck.

Rose wasn't even aware of what was going on, she was just amazed to be feeling this rush of excitement. Doing something that she obviously doesn't do.

But then something strange happened. Where Byron was kissing her (still on her neck), she could have sworn that she felt something sharp on her neck.

She winced and screamed in pain.

Turns out that Byron was sucking her life away.

Rose woke up with a start. She was breathing heavily and immensely freaked out about her freaky dream. She touched her neck, no sign of any scratches or bites, thank goodness.

Rose had no idea what was up with that dream. She was sure that it was real.

She then quickly looked around at her surroundings.

She was in Elliot's room; she seemed to be here a lot lately.

She could hear Lily yelling, "Please Rose, come out, I didn't mean it. I'm sorry."

Rose had no clue how long she was asleep for, but she knew that she didn't want to see anybody or do anything for that matter.

She waited a good five to ten minutes until she couldn't hear Lily outside the door.

_I have to get out of this room sooner or later,_ Rose thought.

She moved from the bed and gripped her hand on the doorknob. She didn't know what she would find behind the door, but she figured it couldn't be any worse then what she just dreamt.

_I could have sworn that dream was real_, Rose thought.

She turned the lock and ventured out, hesitating every step.

_So far so good,_ Rose thought.

As she made her way further down the hall and down the stairs, she noticed that no one seemed to be home. _Lily probably went to get someone to get me out of Elliot's room,_ Rose thought.

It was as she made her way to the livingroom did she see him.

Byron; just sitting there watching TV, like nothing was wrong.

_Well obviously Byron didn't know what happened in my dream_, Rose thought.

Byron turned around when he noticed Rose's presence. "Finally done crying in my room?"

Rose couldn't help staring at him and imagining him smiling with fangs.

"I have to go," Rose muttered.

"What'd I do?" Byron asked.

But before he could get an answer, Rose was on the run.

Rose had needed to get out of that house. Away from it all. She knew the perfect place to escape to. Besides Mako Island, where she always went when she was moody or upset about something, the next best thing was the beach.

When she was a little girl her family always had an annual picnic every month or so at the beach and Rose had loved every minute of it. She used to always help her mom make the sandwiches and get everything ready before they headed out.

_Stop thinking about it. It'll only make you more sad and upset,_ Rose tried telling herself. But it didn't work, the tears starting rolling down her cheeks.

_What is with me crying all the time?_

"Hey Roseཀ"

Rose definitely was not in the mood to talk. But Rose looked into the direction of the speaker anyway. She was quite surprised when she found out who it was.

Ben.

"Ben, what are you doing here?"

"Well, I always love checking out my next victims and the beach is the perfect place."

Rose just stared at him, completely disgusted.

"That was a joke, you can laugh you know."

Rose didn't find it funny.

"Is everything ok? You seem upset."

Rose was shocked that Ben was talking to her and not once had he tried to use a cheesy line or anything.

"I'm fine." Rose replied.

"You know, I don't buy that. Come on, you can talk to me, I won't bite." Ben smiled at his own joke.

Rose couldn't help but laugh and smile.

"Hey, there's the Rose I know and loveཀ" Ben then raised his arms and in the air and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, she smiledཀ"

No one on the beach seemed to really care.

"I don't think they care."

"Well, then screw them. Now Rose, what is really on your mind? Don't say nothing."

Rose figured it was better that she talk to someone (even though it was Ben) then to just keep her feelings hidden deep inside of her. "Well, I'm just tired of feeling like thisཀ I want to just be normal againཀ"

"But you're not normal. No one is. What is normal anyway?" Ben replied.

"Well...I want to be happy at least. I don't think I've ever been truly happy."

"I beg to differཀ I saw you when you were with James. You were head over heels in love with that guyཀ If that's not happy I don't know what is." Ben told her.

"And, I'm also just so sick of...vampires, no offense."

"None taken. But why? Why are you so hung up on this? I thought you teenage girls were supposed to be obsessed with us?"

Rose then told Ben the whole story on her mother, her brother and their tragic deaths.

"That's why."

"That stinks. But you know, not all vampires are like that. I know one handsome lad that certainly isn't."

"Ben, it's so not you."

"I wasn't talking about me." Ben paused. "I'm talking about James. You know he's really devastated about this whole situation."

"Really?"

"Of courseཀ He's probably as miserable as you if not moreཀ Trust me." Ben explained.

Rose was quite confused about something. "Ben, why are you talking to me? Why are you being so nice to me?"

"Because I care about you and I don't want to see you like this."

"You care?"

"Hey, that hurtsཀ" Ben said.

Before Rose knew it, an hour had passed, and they were still talking.

Rose glanced down at her watch. "We've been sitting her for an hourཀ"

Ben laughed, "Time flies by when you're having fun."

Rose glanced down at the water. She was glad that she didn't go to Mako, she was actually enjoying herself here...with Ben.

"Feeling any better?" Ben asked.

"Yeah, much. Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

And Rose did something she thought she would never do. She kissed Ben. On the cheek.

"What was that for?" Ben asked.

"For being there for me." Rose replied.

* * *

_Sorry for the long wait once again. It's been about 2 months since we last updated. :(  
But hey, we're back so...YAY!  
What'd you guys think? Like it, Love it? Hate it? I personally think it's ok.  
REVIEW!!! :)  
And Maddie&I are working on some other F&F related stuff, you'll just have to wait & see what those things are! _

_until next time,_

_-Kelly_


	27. Chapter 26: It's Whats Underneath

**Fangs & Fins:**

**Chapter 26: "It's Whats Underneath" **

**

* * *

  
**

"Lewis, sit down." Lily snapped, glaring at Lewis. She was motioning for him to sit down at the kitchen table.

"Lily, Rose is gone. We don't know where she went and –"

"Lewis, just sit down!" Lily screamed irritably. Lewis decided not to pursue the subject any further.

Lily's eyes glance back and forth between Lewis's wound and an assortment of disinfectants set out in front of her.

"Well I guess we'll just start with the basics." She snatched one of the disinfectants up and began dabbing it over a bite below Lewis's check.

-

Ben jumped up from his seat in the sand next to Rose and held out his hand. "Come on, I'll walk you home."

Rose gladly took Ben's hand and they headed in the direction of her house. Ben threw his arms around Rose's tiny shoulders.

"So how is James?" She asked softly.

"He's alright. A bit quiet, but still alright. He seems kind of out of it as well...but I'm sure he'll live."

"Oh,"

They walked in silence for a moment.

"…why are you so…_Ben-ish _most of the time? Like how you mess with girls, flirt shamelessly, act obnoxious –"

Ben's response was a huff. "I get it. It's just…easier."

Rose raised an eyebrow up at him.

"Okay…well…it's easier to close everyone out and to put on an act." He closed his eyes in concentration. "Letting people in…you always get hurt in the long run."

Rose smiled faintly. "Yeah, yeah I get what you mean."

"James…James used to say it's stupid to think about long-term affects and just to live in the moment. He told me not to think so much. But I always think about the future. What will happen if…if I let someone in? The answer: it's always bad. Someone always gets hurt. It's a foolproof equation. With love comes pain."

"But love is good. Everyone needs it and everyone wants it." Rose pointed out.

Ben nodded. "Yes. But…I just think about how much it hurts and then I don't want it so badly." He hung his head sadly before abruptly stopping. "Hey, this is your house. Bye Rose, see you at school tomorrow." He waved and dashed off down the street.

Rose watched him vanish down her street before fumbling clumsily around in her pockets for her key.

When she opened the heavy front door, she saw Lewis passed out on the couch, his cuts and bites cover with bandages. Lily was sitting at the table, waiting for Rose.

Rose took a couple steps forward. "Hi." Her voice broke.

Lily nodded. "Hi…Rose…I'm sorry. I just…I'm just mad. Vampires. They killed mom and that hurt all of us. It hurt you the most. And now they nearly killed Lewis! I don't get…I don't get how you can be around them."

Rose bit her lip. "They're different."

Lily crossed her arms. "I'm going to bed, okay?" She stood up from the table and went up the stairs.

-

Lewis stayed home the following day. Lily had declared that he was in no shape to attend school, so he'd crashed at the Collins'.

Around mid-day, when Lewis was half way through the new _Legend of the Seeker _episode, the doorbell rang. He stumbled from the couch and over to the door.

He opened the door to revel Ben Wood, who was holding a pizza box and some sodas.

"Rose told me to bring you this." Ben smiled. "It's my free period and I was happy to oblige."

"Lily left sandwiches."

"Well Rose sent this." Ben walked over to the kitchen counter and dropped the box on it.

"Ohhhh, _Legend of the Seeker_." Ben cooed. He plopped onto the sofa. "What have I missed?"

Lewis sat down next to him. "Um, Cara is posing as a Princess…"

-

"So, how was your day?" Lily asked, lazily dropping her bag on the floor.

Lewis looked up from the program he was watching. "Alright. Ben came by."

Lily froze. "Ben…Ben Wood? James's Ben?"

"Yes. He's actually alright."

Lily looked at Lewis in absolute shock. "You're kidding me, aren't you?"

Lewis shook his head. "No. He's a good guy, really." He turned back towards the TV.

Lily paused for a moment and just looked at him before heading upstairs to change into her work clothes.

-

Rose had been looking at the invitations for the Vampire Ball for the past half hour. She sighed, still wondering whether or not she should go. She had two invitations, meaning she could invite someone. The Woods were already going, so she couldn't invite one of them…

She skipped downstairs to find Lewis watching TV.

"Hey, Lewis…how would you like to go to a ball?"

* * *

_Hi everyone! We're going to be doing a bit of a Fangs & Fins marathon over the next couple of days. :) _

_I don't know how many of you visit the official F&F website Fangbook, but we've been having some problems with and I haven't been able to post these pdf files I've been putting together (you can think of them like tv shows on DVD, one disc – or in this case pdf file contains the first five episodes – or in this case chapters – and the next disc has the next five and so on) for everything to download and keep on their computer so they can read Fangs & Fins whenever they please. I'm going to make a separate pdf file with "special features" that would include deleted scenes and other goodies. One of the special features would be an interview with Kelly and me (the writers of Fangs & Fin, of course). __**So, if you have any questions you'd like to ask us regarding the series you may leave them in your review OR you may PM them to us. We'll answer pretty much anything, but we would love some constructive and original questions. :) **_

_Thank you!_

_Maddie_


	28. Chapter 27: A Little Bit Resolved

**Fangs & Fins**

**Chapter 27: "A Little Bit Resolved"**

* * *

"So what exactly is this vampire ball all about? Like what happens at one?" Lewis asked Ben, who was also joined by Rose.

The three of them were enjoying their lunches (or in Ben's case, bottle of blood, which still made Rose squirm) outside on the school grounds.

Rose couldn't believe that she was eating with let alone hanging out with Benjamin Wood. But, for both Rose and Lewis, they realized the more they hung out with Ben, the more they realized how much of a great guy he really was.

Ben responded to Lewis' question by stating, "Well, it's pretty awesome really. Awesome music, awesome outfits, just simply..."

"Awesome?" Rose chuckled.

"You got itཀ" Ben smiled. "Plus, most of the girls wear killer dresses. Lewis, you know what I mean."

Rose sighed. "Ben, what did we say about your pervy comments?"

"That it isn't right to do. It makes women uncomfortable, and is just plain wrong?"

"Right." Rose smiled.

Rose and Lewis glanced at each other and instantly started laughing.

"What? What's so funny?" Ben asked.

"You; you're hilarious." Rose replied.

"Thanks...I guess." Ben said.

Their fun little pow-wow was abruptly ended the minute Rose caught the sight of two people.

They were Constance and James. When they caught Rose staring, they immediately walked in the opposite direction.

_Figures they wouldn't want to talk to me_, Rose thought, _after how mean I've been to them_.

"Rose, who you lookin' at?" Lewis asked, glancing in the same direction as Rose.

"No one, not anymore anyway." Rose retorted quietly.

"It was James and Constance wasn't it?" Ben asked.

Rose paused. "How do you do that?"

"It's a vampire thing." Ben smiled. "What's up with you, Constance and James?"

"Hm, let's see. How about that I told James that I didn't want anything to do with him and Constance probably hates me too." Rose explained.

"No they don't." Ben said.

"How do you know that?" Rose asked.

"Hello, you're forgetting I live with them. Trust me, they miss you." Ben explained to Rose.

That certainly made Rose just a little bit happy.

"Hey Lewisཀ"

Lewis looked in the direction of the voice.

It was Lily. Lewis noticed that she was headed in the direction of where Rose, Ben and himself were sitting.

"Hey, Lily."

"What are you guys doing?" Lily asked.

Lewis noticed that Lily couldn't keep her eyes off Ben.

"Nothing really, just hanging out." Lewis responded.

"Oh, well, Lewis can I talk to you...in private?" Lily asked Lewis.

"Um, sure...I guess." Lewis knew what this was about.

When they were in a private enough location, Lily said, "So, you're hanging out with Ben."

"Yeah, is that a problem?" Lewis knew it was. He couldn't blame her; Ben was a vampire and all.

"Well, I just don't think it's a good idea, that's all." Lily told him.

"It's fine. Do you even know him? He's a great guy once you get to know him. Plus, Rose seems to like him."

"Yeah, that's what I'm scared of." Lily explained.

Meanwhile with Ben and Rose, Ben was giving Rose advice on how she should approach James and Constance.

"For Constance, it's easy. Just give her a stuffed animal and she'll love you for life." Ben explained.

Rose laughed._ It is true, Constance does love stuffies_.

"For James, he's more complicated. Just speak from the heart with him. He's sure to come around."

"Thanks Ben."

"Don't mention it."

"No really, thanks for being there for me through all the craziness." Rose exclaimed. She pulled her arms around Ben in a sweet embrace.

Rose couldn't quite believe how much of a friend Ben had become.

_At first he seemed like such a jerk and pervvy idiot. He certainly surprised me._

Little did Rose know that James was viewing the whole thing.

It took Rose a couple of days before she knew the best way to apologize for her actions to both Constance and James.

With her plans all set, she decided to put her plan into action after school.

She reached Constance's locker and fortunately Constance was there gathering her things .

"Hey Constance!" Rose said, a gleaming expression on her face.

Constance glanced at her and responded with a small smile. "Hey Rose."

Rose could certainly tell things were awkward between the two girls. _Constance is never this quiet_, Rose thought.

Rose figured now was a good time to apologize. "Constance, I came here to apologize."

"Apologize for what?" Constance said, obviously confused.

"For being a jerk to you and James." Rose explained.

"You don't have to apologize. Trust me, I would have done the same thing if I was in the same situation as you." Constance said.

"Well, I'm still sorry for everything."

"Thanks."

Rose could tell that things were back to normal between the two. "To make this apology official, I went shopping and found something that I think you'll love."

When Constance heard this, she immediately beamed. "Aw, you didn't have to buy me anythingཀ"

Rose reached into her backpack and pulled out Constance's gift.

Constance didn't need to say anything, her eyes did all the talking. Her mouth dropped and she looked like a kid seeing Santa Claus for the first time.

In Rose's hands was the most adorable stuffed animal Constance had ever seen (besides Hugsy of course). It was a cute white little chick.

Constance knew that this white little fur ball would be perfect for her collection. "He's so cute!"

Constance immediately grabbed it into her arms and hugged it.

"I knew you'd like it." Rose smiled.

"I'm going to name you Mr. Quackers," Constance said to her new stuffie.

Rose was not only glad that Constance liked her gift, but that she had her best friend back. It was so nice to hang out with Constance again.

"Do you wanna go to my house? I'm thinking that Mr. Quackers and Hugsy are going to have a splendid little tea party!" Constance told Rose.

"No, there's actually something else that I need to do, but I'll catch ya later." Rose replied.

"Ok, well, I'll see you later." Constance said. Constance then was seen skipping down the hall and out the doors.

_Does that girl constantly think about sunshine and rainbows? _Rose thought.

Rose knew the next thing she had to do.

Approach James and apologize to him as well.

And she did just that.

She headed to James' locker and was ready to apologize to James.

Rose was heading towards his locker when she noticed Jewel was talking to James.

_Where has she been?_ Rose thought. It seemed like forever since Rose had seen Jewel.

Rose was not going to let Jewel burst her bubble. She was going to talk to James and make things right between them.

Jewel must have seen Rose because the next thing Rose knew, Jewel was kissing James!

* * *

_Ending sucks...sorry I had a more sweeter/amazingg R/J scene..but I needed to add Jewel (Maddie&I realized that Jewel hasn't really been in it..soo).  
Hope you like it!__  
__  
PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!  
Seriously, WE MEAN IT! We only got 1 REVIEW on the last 2 chapters! WHAT GIVES!? More reviews= sooner the chapters will be released! Please review! :)  
Oh, and like Mr. Quackers? I just got the cutest stuffed chick & he's adoreable..so I knew I needed to add him into the story. Is anybody loving Ben? I freakin' love him!_

_Until next time..oh & Happy EASTER! :)_

_-Kelly_

_PS: Any questions? Send them to us here or on my youtube/Maddie's, Caribanet..anywhere!_


	29. Chapter 28: Ben Loves Everyone, Etc

**Fangs & Fins**

**Chapter 28: Ben Loves Everyone, Etc**

Rose couldn't believe what she was seeing. James and Jewel kissing.

What? Rose thought, so much for my apology. Rose figured it best to just leave James alone from now on. He obviously doesn't want me anymore.

Rose took a step back, unsure of where to go next. While backing away, James saw Rose out of the corner of his eye.

"Rose, it's not what you think. Rose!" James yelled to Rose, who was now running away from the scene.

Rose hadn't heard him; she was too busy trying to get rid of the previous image she had just seen.

With James and Jewel, James was furious. "What the hell did you do that for?"

Jewel sighed. "James, you aren't with Rose anymore and you just seem…lonely." She flicked her tongue out slightly in which she (wrongly) thought was a seductive gesture.

James made a face.

#

Rose stomped off to her next class, and was so distracted by the horrifying scene she'd just had the misfortune to witness that she nearly smacked into Ben.

"Whoa there Rosie," Ben said, steadying her. He studied her face intensely for a moment. "What's wrong?"

Rose quickly explained what she'd just seen to Ben. He wrapped an arm around her little shoulders and squeezed.

"It's okay Rose. I still love you! Everyone does."

Rose smiled weakly as he lead her in the direction of their next class.

#

"I honestly can't believe you went to school today," Lily said, leaning against the Collins' kitchen counter, her arms crossed. "You were attacked by a vampire two days ago."

Lewis poured himself a glass of water. "Meh, I felt like it. I'm feeling fine." He smiled reassuringly at Lily. "I'm fine, really. Ben assures me that unless over half of the blood in your body drains out after you're bitten, there shouldn't be any long term damage – in other words, I won't develop fangs and a fetish for blood."

"Oh," Lily said, taken back.

There was a pause.

"How's Ash?"

"…I'm going to see him tonight. He's taking me to this camp where he and his vampire slaying friends train."

Lewis raised an eyebrow. "Romantic."

Lily just rolled her eyes.

#

Rose stared blankly at the huge mound of homework scattered across the coffee table. She had a ridiculous amount of work due tomorrow, but was far too distracted to work on anything.

Rose heard the door open, as Ben let himself in. He was carrying a round metal tin, which he preceded to place on the coffee table on Rose's Chemistry textbook.

"I made you cookies; I thought they'd make you feel better." Ben said cheerfully, sitting down in an armchair.

"Thanks Ben," Rose said, opening the lid of the cookie tin and peering inside. "Oh, chocolate chip cookies." She smiled. "They're my favorite!"

Ben nodded. "I know. You mentioned them at lunch today."

"Rose!" Someone shouted, knocking on the front door.

"Go away James." Rose said pleasantly (threateningly).

"ROSE, I need to talk to you!" Ben peered out the window and could see James standing on the porch, banging his fist against the front door.

"We'll he's quite eager." Ben stated dryly, glancing at Rose. "Do you want me to stay?"

Rose looked at the stack of textbooks and notebooks spread on the coffee table. "Are you any good at Chemistry?"

"In a word, no."

"Well you should stay anyway. Lily is going out tonight and it will probably be just me and Lewis. The three of us will have a nice time." Rose said, opening her French textbook.

Ben beamed. "That sounds great."

Rose grinned.

#

Lily had no idea what to expect when visiting a camp for vampire slayers. She thought it would look something along the lines of you know, _a camp_. But instead she and Ash arrived in front of a large, ominous building.

"This is your camp?" Lily asked in disbelief.

Ash nodded and took her hand. "Come on."

They entered a corridor with a glass window. Lily pressed her nose to the glass and peered into the next room. A group of kids were shooting wooden bullets at targets.

Ash took her hand again and pulled her towards a red door with a tiny brass plate on it.  
"This is where the head works."

"The head?"

"Our leader," Ash amended. "She'd like to meet you."

Lily nodded timidly and Ash knocked on the door.

Lily could hear papers being shuffled around and drawer being slammed shut. "Who is it?"

"Ash. Lily's with me. Lily Collins?" Ash said quickly.

"Come in then."

Ash pushed open the door and pulled Lily inside, closing the door quickly behind him. "Lily this is Petra Thames. Petra this is Lily Collins."

Petra Thames was quite, well _intimidating_. She slandered across the room with ease and looked Lily over with her piercing blue eyes. She had a mass of blonde hair which hung neatly at her shoulders.

"Hello Lily," She held out a hand which Lily accepted. "Hello Petra."

Petra beamed. "Are you two going to go do some training exercises? Or take a tour of the building?" She asked.

Ash nodded. "Training exercises."

Petra nodded in approval. "Well I'll hopefully see you later."

Ash and Lily let themselves out and stood in the corridor outside of Petra's office for a moment.

"She seems nice," Lily said.

"She is." Ash agreed, taking Lily's hand. "Come on. Let's go do some exercises."

#

"What is this?" Rose asked in disgust, sitting down next to Ben. She'd gone into the kitchen to stock up on popcorn and drinks and had returned to the living room to see that Lewis and Ben had changed the channel.

"_Twilight_," Lewis snorted.

"I'm so ashamed of you."

"HEY. It's a quality movie. Plus I'll be able to identify with everyone." Ben smiled.

"Change it. Now."

"So dramatic," Ben said, changing the channel back to the film they'd originally be watching.

#

"I think we'll start you off with training exercise number four." Ash said, handing Lily a gun loaded with wooden bullets.

"What's that?"

Ash's lips dipped up into a tiny smile. "You'll see."

He nudged Lily into the next room and shut the door behind her. The lights were off and Lily couldn't see anything.

The lights snapped on and Lily quickly took in her surroundings: she was in a bare room, no windows. One light on the ceiling. She backed away from the door and went to stand closer to the middle of the room.

"Hello?"

The lights went off again and Lily heard a sound as a metal door on the opposite end of the room opened. There was something else in the room now.

The lights went back on, and Lily found herself less than five feet away from a vampire. Its lips were caked with blood and dirt, and its skin was covered in a dried blood.

It lashed out on her hands moving swiftly at her arms. Lily stuck her foot out and smashed it into the vampire's chest. And fell back a few feet before lunging at her again, grabbing onto her thighs and banging her head down onto the hard floor. It clawed furiously at her arms, breaking the skin with its rough nails and pulled at her hair, which had long fallen out of its tight ponytail.

The vampire bit at Lily's cheeks, leaving them raw and stinging. It punched her in the gut and bit her neck while pushing her head harder against the firm ground. Lily screamed and screaming, doing her best to fight back with her bleeding arms and sore legs, but the vampire was too strong and kept a firm hold on her, clawing and scratching wherever she tried to fight back with – her arms, legs, fingers…

Suddenly the vampire froze and became limp. Its eyes slid shut and it fell away from Lily. She gasped for breath and examined her bleeding arms before looking up and seeing Ash leaning easily against the door frame, holding a gun in his hand. He'd just shot the vampire in the back.

"Hi Lily. Are you alright?" He came closer to her.

"Don't you dare touch me you asshole! What the hell was that?"

Ash stared vacantly. "An exercise."

"Ash I've never killed a vampire before! Just leave me alone okay, I never want to see your pathetic face again!" She snapped at him, arctic bite in her voice.

"Lily!"

"Go die in a fire."

She stormed past him and out of the building, clutching her bleeding arms all the way.

#

"This Edward character is depressing, I'm telling you –"

The Collins' front door opened as Lily walked in.

"Lily! What happened?" Rose, Ben and Lewis left their seats on the couch and ran up to meet her.

"I was in an exercise at Ash's camp thing, and there was a vampire –"

Lewis and Ben were already leading Lily upstairs, with Rose close behind.

"She looks worse than you did, Lewis." Rose commented as she peered over Ben's shoulder.

"I'll take care of her. I know what to do." Ben said calmly, opening the medicine cabinet and dumping its contents onto the bathroom sink.

"I'll get some bandages," Lewis said, rushing downstairs.

Rose watched as Ben's patient hand cleaned Lily's arm off.

"Thanks." She said. "For everything."

"No problem."

Lewis returned with a pack of bandages. "Rose, James is downstairs."

Rose froze. "I don't want to see him."

"He looks desperate, alright. Just humor him." Lewis said, handing the bandages to Ben.

Rose sighed. "Alright." She headed downstairs.

James was sitting awkwardly around the remains of Rose, Ben and Lewis' mini party – a half empty popcorn bowl and several Coke cans were on the couch and all of Ben's cookies had been eaten.

"I brought you something."

Rose crossed her arms.

James opened a little black box to reveal a thin gold chain with three charms – a little glass star, a tiny bronze key and a diminutive red rose.

"Oh."

James smiled. "It belonged to a friend of mine."

"What's her name?"

"Cassie."

"Where does she live?" Rose asked, sitting down next to James to get a better look at the necklace.

"In England. With her husband, Tony."

"Oh. Did you go to their wedding?"

"Yeah. That's where she gave this to me." James said, unhooking the chain and placing the necklace around Rose's neck. He closed the clasp. "She said to give it to someone special."

"Thank you James."

"Jewel, she met nothing, she just kind of jumped on me and – "

Rose rolled her eyes and smiled. "Were we talking about Jewel?"

"No."

"We'll let's not. Want to go out for a late dinner?"

"Absolutely."

* * *

**DO NOT BRICK ME. I am sorry for how late this chapter is but I've been suffering from writer's block. *sigh* Kelly wrote the first little bit of this chapter, and I picked up from there.**

**Also, we haven't been receiving many reviews lately, which is rather irritating as we both receive PMs and comments on our YouTube channels/PMs here asking when they new chapters are coming out and we get only a review are two. So yes: irritating. More reviews makes us more motivated to write, and we've been (secretly) scheming to put Fangs & Fins on another agonizingly long hiatus again if we don't start receiving some more feedback. So show us some love, guys!**

**Also, I'm rather in love with Community at the moment (Britta Perry is my idol, so therefore I'm a hardcore Jeff/Britta shipper. It may not be the popular ship, but they do have a decent amount of fans on livejournal), so much to the point where I'm trying to get Kelly to watch it as well, which only happens when I love something (okay, so maybe I've tried to force things I don't love on her before. But only sometimes. Or maybe a lot of the time).**

**Also, back in Chapter 16 there is some Cariba Heine trivia. Point it out in your review, and Ben will bake you virtual cookies.**

**And any Skins fans – guess what my secret Skins OTP is (after reading this chapter it's fairly obvious) and receive a special surprise!**

**By the way, in our profile you'll find a link to a interview Kelly and I did where we answer questions from readers. :)**


	30. Chapter 29: Renovations

**Fangs & Fins**

**Chapter 29: Renovations**

"So," James said, hitting the 'end' button on his phone's keypad and smiling at Rose. "We have reservations at eight, soonest they could fit us in."

"Oh! That's fine." Rose played with one of the charms on her new necklace. The cold metal felt foreign against her skin, and was surprisingly heavy. And also a bit flashy. And the clasp dug into the skin on her neck. She couldn't see herself wearing it every day, but decided she'd just have to grin and bear it.

"Awesome, you guys can stay with us for a bit," Lewis said, coming into the room. Ben was close behind holding a fresh bowl of popcorn and a few cans of Coke.

"Now what should we watch now?" Ben mulled. "_Hmm_…"

Lewis grabbed the remote and he and Ben huddled around the tv, blocking the screen from view. Rose shifted around trying to get a view of the menu as Lewis flicked through the channels.

The boys finally settled on New Moon, which made Rose roll her eyes and Lewis sprint upstairs to make sure Lily was doing okay the moment Edward Cullen set foot onscreen.

"The chick who plays Bella cannot act," Ben said firmly. "She's like a piece of wood that blinks far too often."

Rose smiled and James even grinned a bit.

"I like the short girl," James said, pointing at Alice.

"Holy crap, Jasper's hair," Ben said.

"It's like a character of its own," Rose snorted.

James's phone rang, and he stood up and went into the hall to answer.

Rose ate handfuls of popcorn and listened to James mumbling into his phone from their seats on the couch. He sounded angry.

"Okay, change of plans," James announced, shoving his phone back into his pocket. "We'll just have dinner at my house tonight, Rose."

Rose just nodded and took a sip from her can of Coke.

"Ben, you should probably come home with us."

"Dude, we're just getting to the good part," Ben said sarcastically. James frowned.

"Constance said that somebody's waiting for you," James said, tugging his coat on.

"Oh." Ben stood up and brushed piece of popcorn of his knees. Rose stood up as well and pulled a sweater on.

"See, this is cool," James said as he shut the front door behind Ben. "Now we don't have to dress up."

Rose grinned as Ben made a perverted joke about a lamp-post as they walked towards the Wood's.

* * *

Lily sat idly on the edge of the bathtub, swinging her feat back and forth.

Lewis came rushing into the room with some cotton swabs. "Sorry about that. James stopped by and Ben wanted to watch New Moon."

"Ah," Lily said quietly. Lewis carefully swabbed at a small cut on her lower arm. Ben had tackled the larger cuts but Lewis had been sure they he could handle the smaller ones.

"...I swear, we can't go two days without one of us being mauled by a vampire." Lewis muttered angrily.

"Which is why we should avoid them." Lily said irritably, biting her lip as Lewis dabbed at a cut on her cheek with a disinfectant. It stung slightly.

"I like Ben. And Constance. James seems alright."

"He bit Rose! Vampires killed my mom, Lewis!"

Lewis sighed and fiddled with the cap on the bottle of disinfectant. "They seem to make Rose happy."

"Can't she find some normal friends to make her happy?" Lily snapped.

"It's not like you and Rose are normal," Lewis stated calmly. "You're mermaids. They're vampires. Not a huge difference."

"There is a _massive_ difference Lewis – "

Lewis laughed, interrupting Lily. "I get it. You're mad. You're mad that no matter how hard you tried, you couldn't make Rose happier. And then James and Ben come in and they accomplish everything you'd be striving to do for ages – they made her happier. You always used to get like this, ever since we were little. Whenever you couldn't do something you'd get angry. Or physically violently."

Lily opened her mouth to reply, and then closed it. "You know what, it's not worth it. I'm not going to fight with you."

Lewis's retort was a snort.

* * *

When James pushed open the door to his and Ben's home, Rose peered over Ben's shoulder and saw Constance sitting on a couch (Hugsy clutched to her chest) with a girl.

She had dark blonde hair, arched eyebrows and small green eyes. Ben's face lit up immediately.

"Arianna!" He exclaimed.

Arianna jumped off the couch and threw herself at Ben. Ben hugged her tightly, lifting her off her feet in excitement.

James led Rose into the kitchen, Constance (and Hugsy) at her heels.

"Let's give them some time to catch up," Constance said, as James nodded. Constance sat down at the time kitchen table (Hugsy got his own seat) and Rose followed suit.

James tossed his coat over the spare chair and began raiding the pristine white cabinets. He pulled out a wine bottle labeled 'Type AB' in neat script.

Rose raised an eyebrow and James sighed. "Sorry, I'm just a little stressed right now,"

"Uh, who's Arianna?" Rose asked as James uncorked the bottle.

"Old friend of Ben's." Constance said, motioning for James to pour her a glass, too.

"Are they like, together?"

James and Constance exchanged knowing smirks.

"No," Constance declared. "Not saying they didn't consider it."

"Yeah, I'm sure they went from 'if' to 'when' at least once, if you know what I mean," James drowned his glass in about three seconds.

Rose actually didn't get what he meant. "So they're platonic?"

"Mostly," James said, handing Constance a glass.

_Well you could have just said that_, Rose thought, annoyed.

"A guy and a girl can just be friends," Constance added wisely, taking a dainty sip of her drink. "Just look at me and James!"

"…you guys are siblings," Rose said, stating the obvious.

"No, I'm adopted. Ben and James are only half-brothers, anyway."

Rose stared at James. "I didn't know that,"

James froze. "Oh, um. I thought you did."

"Guys!" Ben said, coming into the kitchen. "Lewis is here!" He spied the bottle of AB in James's hand and snatched it away.

"Get some type A, James. There's some in my stash upstairs. You know what AB does to you," Ben took the bottle into the other room and James followed quickly.

"What's Lewis doing here?" Rose asked, arms crossed while Constance looked around frantically, trying to find a space to stash Hugsy.

"Do you know what him here?" Constance asked.

"Of course not, but he's supposed to be looking after Lily."

Rose and Constance paraded into the other room. Arianna and Ben were sitting on a love seat, while James and Lewis occupied the couch. Constance waved 'hi' to Lewis and quickly settled on the floor. Rose sat next to her.

Lewis got up and began fiddling with the DVD player, sticking a new copy of Eclipse in the player.

"Why are we watching this?" Rose asked.

"Drinking game!" Ben said, holding up the type AB bottle and a two liter bottle of Coke. "Drink every time you want to punch Edward, drink every time Jacob looks hot, drink every time you are painfully reminded of the fact that Kristen Stewart can't act, etc."

James passed out plastic tumblers and the bottles were distributed around.

Arianna and James both got calls halfway through the movie, and Arianna had to leave the second she hung up. James went upstairs after talking for ten minutes and slammed the door to his room. Constance took James's place on the couch next to Lewis, and Rose decided she might as well go and sit with Ben. Her back hurt from sitting on the floor.

"Hi!" Ben said happily. Rose smiled weakly.

"You okay? I could tell you weren't really getting into the game." Ben said.

Rose stared at the contents of her cup. She had only taken a few sips during Kristen's most cringe-worthy scenes. "I don't know, I guess. Things feel different."

"James and Jewel?"

"Not exactly, I guess. But it could be a factor. James just doesn't tell me much; about his past and my mom and brother…"

"Look Rose," Ben set his cup on the ottoman. "James is under a lot of pressure right now. The Vampire Ball is extremely important this year, our family hasn't had the opportunity to host it in a long time due to…certain events, and we're going to be seeing a ton of other vampires from our family. We have to make a good impression on them and the others attending. James is also the oldest, and our dad has a tendency to…favor him, I suppose. He kind of resents Constance and doesn't find her useful. As for me…well, James's plate is just kind of full right now. He's stretched pretty thin. Cut him some slack. I know how you feel about your mom and brother, and it sucks. But there isn't much we can do."

Rose paused. "What do you mean you know?"

"Uh, you're mom isn't the first the Woods have decided to finish off," Ben said quietly, fidgeting with the beading on a throw pillow.

Rose looked at Ben, motioning for him to continue.

"Okay. Well James and I have to same dad, right? Well we don't have the same mom. James's mom was Arianna's mother's sister," Ben began. "So a vampire. My mom, she was a mortal. People always tell me that she was really nice. I have a human uncle and grandparents and cousins and everything. They don't know about me, I think. But anyway. Well, even when she met my father, she was still sweet, or so I'm told. My father isn't the marrying type. He treats all mortals like their pets, or worse...meat. Normally he doesn't hold onto a woman enough to get her pregnant, but I guess my Mom was an exception. And then I was born. Half mortal, half vampire. Twilight was totally wrong, it happens way more often than not, vampires just don't like to talk about it."

Ben reached for his tumbler and took a sip.

"In vampire society, at the top of the food chain is always those who are 100% vampire. Vampire mother, vampire father. Then we have the ones who are half human, half vampire. Then we have people like Constance, who were changed. That's the reason we didn't get to host the Vampire Ball over the past ten years or so. Now that it's become common knowledge that my dad killed my mom, we can. I know he didn't do it just because of the ball, I guess he didn't want to be emotionally attached to anyone. And of course, we have a lot of relatives that must have pressured him into it. We get a lot of flak as a family because of Constance and me – Constance isn't even related, but my mom made sure we took her in. Arianna's family is in the same boat – the Cromwells. She's half human like me."

Rose reached for Ben's hand, almost involuntarily. He smiled and set his cup back down.

"My dad resents Constance and I. Sometimes we like to speculate about which of us he dislikes more. I was so silly, I used to try and prove myself to him. To show that I was just as much of a vampire as him. I tried to be better than James – I mean the guy rarely touches human blood, it wasn't all that hard. But it didn't work."

Ben shrugged and brought his tumbler to his lips, and took a long sip.

James came storming down the stairs, his cell phone clutched. "Ben, dad wants to talk to you."

Ben paled. "Tell him I'm not here."

"BENJAMIN I CAN HEAR YOU," a voice thudded out of James's phone.

Ben sighed and took the phone. He went into the kitchen and shut the door.

"I'm going to bring Lewis home," Rose said, standing up and kicking Lewis in the shin. He and Constance were cuddling on the couch.

"I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" James said, giving her a one-arm hug.

"Alright," Rose said, waving as she and Lewis collected their coats and left the house.

* * *

"I have a proposal," Lily announced that morning at breakfast. Lewis looked up from his eggs and Rose twiddled her spoon around, waiting for Lily to continue.

"I think," she began. "It would be a good idea if we convert Elliot's room into a guestroom. All of his toys, clothes and other processions were boxed away ages ago and are at a storage facility. Lewis stays over a lot, Byron comes and goes every so often and Ben is over frequently. They're all too big to fit in Elliot's little twin bed, and the curtains have _giraffes _printed on them. It isn't functional. It isn't fair to have Lewis sleep on the couch just because he's too big to fit into Elliot's bed, and Byron had sleeping bags rolled out all over the floor the last time I was in there." She clapped her hands together. "It can be a project!"

Lewis contemplated rolling his eyes. Lily had multiple "projects" she had attempted over the years, some of which had gone well, while others had went down in flames. Trying to improve Rose's cooking skills had probably ended the worst, though. Lily wouldn't disclose the full details to him out of embarrassment, but Lewis was pretty sure they'd needed a new stove after Rose had attempted to make eggs.

Regardless, Lewis nodded. "Sure, I'm in." Lily smiled and turned to Rose who just shrugged.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. Lewis stays over more often than not, and we can't have family over for the holidays because there isn't anywhere for them to sleep."

"Great!" Lily said. "I think Elliot's room is large enough for a full bed, and we can move the dresser from the garage in there, plus the old TV. We'll need new curtains, the walls need some paint…" Lily pulled out a notebook and grabbed a pen off the counter and began scribbling down ideas. Lewis brought his plate to the sink and yawned.

"I'm walking Constance to school today," He said, tugging his bag over his shoulder.

"Oh, so that's still going on?" Rose asked, finishing her milk.

"Yes. Why wouldn't it be?"

"I don't know. I just thought Lily might try to start mediating your love life."

Lewis rolled he eyes and slammed the front door behind him.

"Okay, so I'll get paint today after work," Lily put the cap on the pen she was using. "How about you have Ben or James over to help paint?"

"Yeah, I'll ask Ben. I think James might be busy, though."

"That's fine." Lily smiled. She was making an effort right? Ben was so bad anyway.

"Also," she said brightly. "I heard from dad! He's coming home! Apparently he's in Asia right now."

"I thought he was on business in Europe," Rose said, bringing her plate and milk glass to the sink.

Lily shrugged. "He really likes the food apparently,"

Rose just smirked.

* * *

"Okay," Lily said, looking over Elliot's walls. A mural of a giraffe, an elephant, a lion and lioness, three pandas, a toucan and some koalas was painted on a single wall of his room. The rest of the room was a light green color. Lily had bought paint that matched the other rooms to cover the mural.

"That is an extremely inaccurate mural," Lewis commented.

Lewis, Rose, Constance and Ben stood behind Lily, armed with brushes.

"Okay, you're right. Let's just paint over it."

Cover the mural took a fraction of the time Lily had originally anticipated. Ben and Lewis had made up some kind of game to paint quicker (after every two-minute interval, whoever painted slower had to sing a verse of "I'll Make A Man Out Of You" from _Mulan_), and Constance was surprisingly an efficient painter. Rose kept giggling at Ben and Lewis, so some of her strokes were a bit messy but Lily decided that you can't have everything.

When Lewis and Lily went downstairs to get drinks for everyone, they saw James sitting on the couch.

"Hey!" Lewis shouted. "Rose didn't think you could make it."

"I know," James said. "But she said to come by if I could"

He was lying, Lily could tell.

"Is Ben upstairs?" He asked timidly.

"Yes," Lily said. James nodded and sprinted upstairs.

* * *

Ben held up one of the cans of paint and smiled. "Rosie, we should use the left over paint to paint_ your_ room!"

Rose smirked. She had to admire Ben's enthusiasm. But the green Lily had selected for Ben's room wouldn't work with the rest of the colors in her room, anyway.

So she shook her head, and Ben looked genuinely disappointed.

James came bursting into the room, and latched onto Ben's elbow.

"Benjamin, we need to _talk_," He growled, dragging Ben into Lily's room.

Rose looked at Constance for an explanation, but she just shrugged.

"Boys are weird."

* * *

**A/N: Hi guys! It's Maddie.**

**This week we're having a Fangs & Fins marathon! One chapter will be posted all day, with a two-chapter finale posted on Friday. **

**Our schedule for the week:**

**Monday – Chapter 29 **

**Tuesday – Chapter 30**

**Wednesday – Chapter 31**

**Thursday – Chapter 32**

**Friday – Chapter 33/34**

**On Sunday, we will be doing a post-finale live chat. More details on that later in the week. **

**There is a link to Fangs & Fins's official website in our profile (Fangbook) which has tons of special stuff – synopsizes for upcoming chapters, a forum/chat, polls, icons, banners, videos, updates and more. **

**Kelly and I both wrote this chapter. Kelly did the top bit, I did the bottom bit. Reviews are appreciated and will encourage us to update faster.**

**Note: the half human/half vampire thing – we are **_**not **_**trying to draw any comparisons to Twilight. That was Kelly's idea and she hasn't even picked up Breaking Dawn yet (and hopefully never will. That book is a life ruiner. **_**It ruins lives**_**). Kelly originally wrote Rose/Ben's conversation in regards to James/their moms, but I rewrote it with her ideas intact so that it would still work with the plot for this chapter (and originally the scene took place at the Collins', which didn't work with the flow of this chapter, so I had to move it around). **

**Also: we are so sorry for the super-long hiatus. Kelly and I are massive procrastinators. But, Kelly got into/is transferring to a new college next semester and I got into my top-choice school, so we're both a bit more relaxed and sound of mind, so we should have more time to work on Fangs & Fins (and its sequel, which we're hoping to release over the summer). **

**Enjoy the marathon and remember to review!**


	31. Chapter 30: Flashbacks & Agruments

**Fangs & Fins  
Chapter 30: "Flashbacks & Arguments" **

"Wait, Rose where are you going?" Constance wondered the moment she saw Rose heading towards Lily's room, where Ben and James were having their argument.  
Rose put her pointer finger to her lips motioning silence. Constance seemed to understand.  
Rose crept closer and closer towards the room, hoping to hear something. Normally, Rose would never eavesdrop on someone's private conversation (well, except for when she used to eavesdrop on Lily when she was younger). But recently it seemed like the Woods family had been hiding something from her, in particular James. So Rose wanted to get to the bottom of it.  
Rose heard Ben first. "Ok, big brother, what is it this time?" Ben's tone was clearly full of annoyance.  
"What is your problem!" James yelled back.  
Rose noticed Ben was confused, as was she. _What could Ben possibly of done? He's been fine these past couple months,_ Rose thought.  
"Problem? What problem?" Ben questioned.  
"Dad keeps ringing me off the hook asking me what you're doing, practically every five minutes! It's annoying! What'd you do this time?"  
Ben's expression went from confused to serious in a nanosecond. "I don't know what you're talking about."  
"Yes you do! Otherwise you wouldn't want to drop this subject so quickly. So tell me. What's going on? Is this about those girls you killed?" James said.  
Rose noticed Ben wasn't very good at lying since Ben's face clearly had guilt written all over it.  
"Can we please drop this subject? I have a room to finish painting!" Ben tried to exit the room, but James grabbed his arm.  
"You're not leaving until you tell me everything!"  
"I'm leaving, I'm not telling you anything, and besides, you wouldn't get it!" Ben removed James' hand off his arm and started to exit Lily's room.  
"Just don't come crawling back to me next time Dad's pissed at your for killing another human!"  
Ben immediately turned around and responded by saying, "You think I actually wanted to kill those girls! You think that's my way of having fun!" Ben's voice was clearly angry.  
"Why yes actually, I do." James said.  
"Then you don't know me at all. I would never harm anyone for no apparent reason. That's not me!"  
"Then why are you?"  
"Because I have to," Ben quickly changed the subject. "And don't automatically assume that I've done something wrong, you haven't been so pleasant to be around lately either."  
"Says who?" James questioned.  
"EVERYONE! You're so caught up with this stupid Vampire Ball that you're ignoring everyone, including Rose!"  
James tone suddenly softened. "I've just been really stressed. As the oldest-"  
Ben cut James off, "-you have to plan the Vampire Ball, I get it. But it's not just that. It's like you're a different person. It's like we don't know who you are anymore."  
"Whatever, I don't have time for this!" James yelled.  
"Go back to your organizing and planning. I'll just stay here with Rose. Maybe she'll finally see who the better brother is."  
"Why don't you just go and kill another human!" James said while exiting.  
"At least I haven't killed…" Ben started to say, but stopped the minute he noticed Rose was quietly listening by the doorway. "Rose? What are you doing here?"  
Rose was busted. "I wasn't listening or anything."  
"Yeah, you were. If it was someone else, I'd be ticked at them for listening; but you're different. You haven't been getting all the information lately and I'm sorry for that."  
_Wow, I thought Ben was going to be angry_, Rose thought.  
_Slam!_ Rose and Ben as well as the others jumped at the sound of James slamming the Collins' front door.  
"Well, someone's angry," Ben said.  
"I don't know what his problem is lately. I guess its stress." Rose said to Ben. "If that's the case, I can't wait until this Vampire Ball is over."  
Ben responded, "Hey, don't say that. The Vampire Ball is amazing! You'll have fun."  
"I hope so."  
"Let's join the others downstairs, I'm assuming they're finished painting." Ben said.  
Rose and Ben headed downstairs to find Lewis and Lily drinking glasses of fruit punch while Constance was quietly sitting down on the couch, looking quite sad.  
Rose noticed this and asked, "What's wrong with Constance? She's never sad."  
Ben and Rose decided it'd be best to try and cheer Constance up. Ben and Rose plopped on the couch next to Constance (Rose on the right, Ben on the left). "Hey, Connie why so glum?" Ben asked.  
"It's nothing." Constance replied.  
Rose couldn't help but notice a tear falling down her cheek. "It doesn't seem like nothing."  
"It's just…it's the day." Constance replied.  
Rose was confused by this. "Day? What day?"  
Ben seemed to understand. "Really? I didn't realize it was today! Constance I'm so sorry!" Ben quickly embraced Constance in a warm and reassuring hug. "Look on the bright side, the Vampire Ball is in a few days and you can party it up soon. And today will be over before you know it."  
Rose and Ben decided it was best to leave Constance be for the time being. But Rose was still confused as to what _today_ was. "I don't get it. What's today?"  
Ben whispered back to her, "Today is the day she was turned into a vampire."  
Rose was completely shocked. "Oh! I didn't know, now I feel so stupid! Aw, poor Constance. She must be going through a lot."  
"Yeah, a lot happened on that day. Maybe later, she'll tell you." Ben said.  
"Yeah, maybe."

* * *

Much later in the day, when everyone else had decided to head over to the Juicenet, Rose noticed that Constance was still sulking on the couch, but this time looking at a photo album. _She must have had that in her purse_, Rose thought.  
Rose figured it was best to stay home and confront Constance and ask her about _the day_. _Maybe it'll make her feel better in a way,_ Rose thought. Plus Rose was quite curious as to what happened.  
Rose headed towards the couch. "Hey, Constance, are you still upset?"  
Constance quickly tried to dry her eyes, "Nope, I'm fine."  
Rose sat down next to her. "No, you're not, I can tell."  
Constance caved in. "No, I feel terrible. A lot happened on that day. It was the worst day of my life."  
"Do you wanna talk about it? It might help."  
"I guess so." Constance grabbed the photo album she was recently viewing and she flipped to a page where there were lots of photos of Constance and a handsome young man.  
"Oh, he's cute! Who is he?"  
"His name was Jacob and he was my boyfriend." Rose noticed Constance seemed quite upset at the mention of his name. "We did everything together. I loved him dearly."  
Rose looked down at the photo album and so various photographs of Constance and Jacob together, one where they were hiking, another where they were sleeping next to each other and the last one Rose viewed broke her heart. It was of Constance blowing out candles. The candles were in the shape of a 1 and a 7, 17. _Constance will never get to have a birthday party._  
"So, what happened to him?" Rose asked.  
"Well, I was having this huge birthday party celebration for my 17th birthday, kinda like a sweet 17th birthday party. It was amazing! All of my friends came over and there were some people I didn't even know at the time, like Ben."  
"Ben crashed your birthday party?" Rose asked with a smile.  
"Come on, he's Ben. He loves to party. Anyway, everyone was having an awesome time, including me."  
"But what happened?"  
"What happened was I noticed Jacob was talking to this girl. The girl clearly liked him and was flirting with him non-stop. At first I ignored the flirting, figured that this was a party and anything can happen. So I let it go. But then after awhile I lost sight of Jacob, so I started looking all over for him. I eventually found him…in my room, with…her." Tears started to stream down poor Constance's face.  
Rose was afraid to ask any more questions, in fear of making Constance even more upset.  
"It was horrible! She was killing him! Munching on him like a midnight snack. I started yelling for her to stop, but she wouldn't listen. I tried to push her off of Jacob, but then she grabbed me and bit me. The pain was excruciating, like she was ripping off a piece of my skin. I remember her saying horrible things to me like 'This is what you get for sneaking up on me, bitch' and other horrible phrases."  
Rose was a bit taken aback when Constance swore, she never heard Constance say anything negative about anyone.  
"Then all I remember was getting dizzy and weak and I passed out. I woke up alone in my room, except for Jacob. The girl must of left. I looked up at my bed and Jacob was still there, but he wasn't moving. I tried to wake him up, at first I thought he was just sleeping..but." Constance paused. "I'm sorry. I can't say anymore."  
Rose was starting to get a bit misty-eyed herself. "No, it's fine. You don't have to continue."  
Constance interrupted, "But I do, that way you'll understand why the Woods are so important to me." Constance continued, even though tears were constantly streaming down her face and her speech was a bit muffled from all the crying, "Well, I was crying uncontrollably, I thought I was having a panic attack or something. It must have been a side effect of turning. Someone must have heard my cries because a young man, who I later realized was James, appeared in my room and saw me in my current state. I must have looked awful, clothes ripped, hair a mess, but he didn't care. He just hugged me and told me everything was going to be all right. James explained what had happened to me that I was now a vampire, and he also introduced me to Ben. And ever since then I've been 17."  
"How long have you been a vampire anyway?" Rose asked.  
"It'll be 14 years today." Constance responded.  
"Wait a minute, so wouldn't that make today your birthday?" Rose asked.  
"Yeah, today would be my 31st birthday, but that's ok, I'm used to not celebrating it. I've never even told anyone."  
"Not even James and Ben?"  
"Nope. They never asked."  
_Well that seems unlike them_, Rose thought.  
"Well, we have something in common."  
Constance wiped her eyes while speaking, "What's that?"  
"We've both had crappy birthdays. My Mother and brother were killed near my birthday."  
"Aw, Rose I'm so sorry-"  
"Don't be. Thanks to your brothers and you, I've gotten over it…a little."  
Constance smiled.  
"But I do have one question. Why do you act so childish and shy all the time when before you seemed so vibrant and outgoing?"  
"Well, it took a lot out of me I guess. I guess I never got over it. And I didn't tell you the full story."  
"What's the full story?"  
"Jewel was the girl."  
"WHAT!" Rose gasped.  
"It's true. And I guess another reason why I'm so shy is because Jewel was always around and I was terrified of her, and I still sort of am."  
"Where is Jewel anyway?" Rose asked.  
"I'm not sure; probably off killing another innocent girl's boyfriend. But she'll be back for the Vampire Ball, she never misses that."  
There was a silent pause between the two.  
"Rose?" Constance stated softly.  
"Yes, Constance?"  
"Can I have a hug?"  
Rose noticed that Constance was crying yet again. Rose opened her arms and Constance cried into Rose's shoulder.  
"You're my best friend, Rose." Constance proclaimed through her sobs.  
"Your mine too," Rose replied back as a tear streamed down her face, too.

* * *

**A/N: Hey guys, it's Kelly! :) Hope you liked this chapter! Now you finally know what happened to Constance those many years ago..so sad D:  
There was actually supposed to be another scene afterwards..but I decided to cut it out (Maddie you could add it into tomorrow's chapter)**

Remember:

**Wednesday – Chapter 31**

**Thursday – Chapter 32**

**Friday – Chapter 33/34**

& then Sunday is our live chat! :)

Hope you guys are enjoying the marathon...I know we are!  
Keep checking back here & on Fangbook (link on our profile), we have a poll you guys MUST take (we would really value your opinion) there as well a sneakpeek look of the next chapter which should be posted later (the sneak peek includes a synopsis and promo stills)

**Remember...REVIEW!**

**-Kelly**


	32. Chapter 31: Lewis Gets Over Lily

**Chapter 31**

"**Lewis Gets Over Lily"**

When James approached his house, the first thing he noticed was that the porch lights were turned on.

James froze. It _had_ to be his dad. He's distinctly remembered turning the lights off before he'd left to go and find Ben. His fingers were shaking as he stuck his keys in the lock, but the door was already open. Tentatively, he pushed the front door open and stepped inside.

Arianna Cromwell was sitting on the couch, legs crossed, a wine glass clutched in her right hand.

James seriously considered screaming at Arianna for a) scaring him, b) breaking and entering and c) raiding Ben's blood stash. A brand new bottle of type O was sitting on the coffee table.

"Hello James," Arianna said sweetly. "Is Ben around?"

"No, he's not here." James tugged his coat off and hung it on the pewter coat rack near the front door.

Arianna frowned and followed James into the kitchen. "Any idea where I can find him."

James pulled a crystal tumbler from one of the cabinets and walked back into the living room, Arianna at his heels. James grabbed the type O bottle and poured himself half a glass. He took a few sips and felt a little bit more relaxed.

The vampire ball was in a few days. James still had to arrange transportation for Constance, Ben, Rose, Lewis and himself (he had no idea if Lily was going, so he needed to check in with her). He had to approve the guest list, check with the caterers (they were notorious for double booking), and make sure the flowers would be arriving on time.

James had decided to use his father's house in Sydney as the venue. It was much larger and more appropriate for the ball anyway.

He noticed Arianna was staring him down. He just sighed.

"Look, if you're just going to stare at me all night, you should probably leave. I have a lot of work to do." James pulled out some leather notebooks and placed them on the coffee table. "I have to talk to the florist whose providing flowers for the ball,"

Arianna frowned. "Can you tell me where I can find Ben?"

"Is it really that urgent? He'll be home tomorrow. You could text him. You have a phone, right?"

Arianna was growing increasing more frustrated by the moment. "Is he at your girlfriend's? The blonde's?"

James's spine stiffened and he shifted awkwardly on the couch. Arianna had a feeling she'd saying something wrong.

"Probably. But I don't think you should go over there," James snapped, flipping open his leather notebook.

"Just tell him I came over, okay?" Arianna said, opening the front door. "I'll see you at the Ball, James."

James waved without looking up from his notebook, and Arianna slammed the door shut.

* * *

The next morning Rose knocked on the front door to the Woods's house, and Constance yanked the door open cheerfully.

"Morning!" Constance said.

Rose help up a tote bag. "I have my suit! Ready to go to the beach?"

Constance had called Rose an hour earlier and suggested they'd go to the beach together. It was suspiciously sunny outside, and Constance had wanted to tan. Of course, this raised the question of how Constance could tan (didn't vampires have something against the sun?) But Rose decided not to ask.

Constance grinned. "I thought we could do something else first!"

"What?" Rose asked.

Constance motioned for Rose to step inside, and pointed to Hugsy who was sitting on the couch. He was wearing an outfit that made him look like Sherlock Homes. Rose looked at Constance for an answer.

Constance threw her arms up in the air. "Let's go snoop through my brother's stuff!"

Rose let that sink in. "You want to spy on James and Ben?"

"They don't tell us anything Rose. Aren't you sick of being kept in the dark?"

Rose scratched the back of her neck. "I don't know, Constance…James is under enough stress as it is, I don't think he'd appreciate us snooping around through all his tuff."

Constance grabbed Rose's hand. "He'll never know. Come on."

Rose dropped her bag on the couch and sprinted upstairs, Constance a few stairs ahead of her.

When they reached the landing at the top of the stairs, Constance suggested they search James's room first.

James's room was a mess. Papers were tacked to the walls, clothes, books, more papers, empty bottles, and dirty glasses covered the floor.

Constance and Rose exchanged looks.

"This is unlike him," Constance said finally. "He's normally much neater. Must be the stress."

Constance made her way (with quite a bit of difficulty) to James's closet. She placed her hands on the two little knobs one of the sliding doors and pulled.

Rose and Constance searched through the closet for a few minutes and found nothing. Constance even dragged over James's desk chair and searched through the long shelf above the hanging rod. Nothing was discovered, so Constance went over and dug through the papers on James's desk and Rose looked under his bed.

Rose found an old scrapbook that had a few pictures of James and Ben. There were some old family photos, some images of Constance blowing out the candles on a birthday cake. Even Arianna showed up in the scrapbook.

There were some thin chapter books shoved under James's bed, along with a few long boxes with cut-out handles. Rose grabbed the one closest to her and pulled. The box contained some notebooks and old textbooks, along with some loose-leaf binder paper and used pencils.

The other boxes contained similar items – old school supplies, textbooks, highlighters, magazines, extra skateboard wheels (Rose didn't know that James owned a skateboard), old yearbooks, CDs, postcards, ticket stubs, an old iPod shuffle, a cell phone charger, used ballpoint pens, key chains, and used batteries.

"Nothing," Rose said, shoving the final box back under James's bed and straitening the comforter so that it covered the boxes.

"His desk just has old essays and the guest list for the Ball. The papers on the walls are just contact information, like the number for the florist and such."

"Okay. Let's try Ben's room."

* * *

Ben's room was smaller than James's but it was three times messier, which Rose didn't even think was possible. Ben had so much crap, it was unbelievable. His stacks of CDs came to Rose's waist. The book case was overflowing, Ben had piles and piles of old magazines, three surfboards stacked in the corner, clothes spilling out the closet, old notebooks and texts galore, heaps of DVDs, two life-size cutouts, several posters rolled up into cylinders and secured with old rubber bands in the corner, a huge rubber band ball, _finger-knitting supplies_ (including three large shopping bags filled with the things Ben had finger-knitted), a small easel and paints, a collection of Pikachu merchandise (including a backpack, several plushies, posters, DVD covers, and more) a massive stereo-system, bins of trading cards, a large collection of shot glasses, two mini-fridges, an old iPhone, stuffed animals shaped like sharks and turtles, and so much more.

"Uh. Holy crap." Rose said.

"I don't understand how he can have girls in here, or why they would even want to be in here." Constance replied, looking at Ben's cut-out of Edward Cullen (which had a mustache and _'DICK'_ written across the forehead in magic marker.

"Uh," Rose used an unsharpened pencil to lift a lacy pink bra off the floor and showed it to Constance who started giggling.

"Let's try the closet." Constance declared.

It took a good fifteen minutes to get past the mountain of clothes coming for Ben's closet to actually see what he had inside. The top shelf just had shoe books, and there was an empty suitcase and a few bundles of yarn in the corner.

"…do you want to go to the beach now?" Constance asked after they'd climbed out the closet (the mound of clothes just as formidable as it had been the first time they'd made their way into the closet).

"Yes," Rose said, sighing.

"Race you downstairs!"Constance yelped, sprinting out of the room.

"Hey, not fair!" Rose giggled, following her, and leaving Ben's disaster of a room behind.

* * *

Lily huffed and crossed her arms, then her legs. Ben and Lewis were having a marathon of old Pokémon episodes (they both knew the theme song. By heart) and she was seriously annoyed.

"_I WANNA BE THE VERY BEST!_" Ben and Lewis sang in perfect harmony. They should be putting the new curtains she's purchased up in Elliot's room, or the new bedspread. But nooooo, Pokémon was way more important.

Ben's phone started vibrating and he paused the show to answer it. Whoever was on the other line sounded almost as aggravated as Lily felt. He hung up looking flustered.

"I have to go, okay? I'll see you guys a bit later," Ben pranced over to the front door. "Bye!"

Lily and Lewis listen to Ben stomp down the driveway for a few minutes, until Lewis broke the silence.

"We should probably finish Elliot's room," Lewis said, jumping up from the couch and walking over towards the stairs. Lily followed.

Lily had purchased curtains that were "gender-neutral" – or white, Lewis supposed. The twin bed had been replaced with a full, which in Lewis's opinion wasn't much better than the twin. Not that he would tell Lily that.

Lewis and Lily worked together to hand the curtains up – Lily slid the giraffe ones off the rod, and Lewis slipped the new ones on.

"There," Lily said, clearly pleased. "Not we just have to do the bed."

Lily had bought olive colored shams to match the walls and an ivory comforter with beige throw pillows. Lewis pulled the sheets on while Lily smoothed, and then they made the bed together.

"Yay!" Lily exclaimed, clapping her hands in excitement. Lewis pushed the curtains back and peered outside.

Rose and Constance were coming up the driveway, hair wet and giggling. Constance was holding a pair of flip-flops and Rose was clutching a tote bag. They'd probably just come from the beach.

Constance's face was shining and she was beamed at Rose, who was making weird motions with her hands and trying to keep a straight face.

He looked over at Lily who was whipping her forehead with a towel and admiring her work, and then looked back to Constance.

For a while he'd thought that he would never get over Lily, _the-first-cut-is-the-deepest_ and all that. Sheryl Crow may write catchy songs, but maybe she wasn't right this time. Lewis felt happier than ever with Constance. And maybe he was over Lily. He was sick of pinning for a girl who has just stopped caring. Honestly, he deserved to be happy. It was finally time to let Lily go.

* * *

**Hi, it's Maddie!**

**Yeah, we finally decided Lily/Lewis needed some resolution.**

_**Marathon schedule this week:**_

**Thursday – Chapter 32**

**Friday – Chapter 33/34 (finale)**

**Sunday – Post finale livechat with the authors (7:30 pm EST, we will be discussing the finale and the sequel/second season). More details in our profile.**

**Fangbook (our official website, link in our profile) has a synopsis, promo stills and more for Chapter 32 (the new chapter that will be posted tomorrow!) so please visit and vote in the poll on the front page!**

**And remember to review! **


	33. Chapter 32: Lewis' Rant

**Fangs & Fins  
Chapter 32: "Lewis' Rant"**

"So, what does one wear to the Vampire Ball?" Rose asked Constance while Constance was rummaging through her closet trying to find her dress for the ball.  
"I know I put it in here somewhere! Where is it?" Constance moved from one item of clothing to the next, but the dress was nowhere in sight.  
Rose got up off Constance's bed to help. "You need any help finding it?"  
A voice was overheard by Constance's open door. "Looking for this?"  
Rose and Constance turned. It was none other than Jewel; apparently back from wherever she was. Constance mouth gasped. She was wearing Constance's dress!  
Constance's beautiful long purple dress with glittery beading in the skirt as well as beading in the bust of the dress would look gorgeous on Constance. But on Jewel, it just looked wrong.  
"Wh-what are you doing here?" Constance stuttered.  
Rose noticed that Constance had a hard time looking at Constance, _probably because a.) She's wearing her dress and b.) What Jewel has done to Constance in the past_, Rose thought.  
"Duh, I'm here for the Vampire Ball. It is in a few days after all." Jewel stated, her tone full of confidence, like she had no care in the world (she probably didn't).  
"And the dress?" Rose asked harshly, giving Jewel the 'evil eye'.  
"Oh," Jewel looked down at Constance's dress, "I just needed something to wear, and I thought why not take it from my good little friend Constance. You don't mind do you?" Jewel asked.  
"Y-y-yes I do." Constance stuttered softly.  
"Like hell she does, get the hell out of her dress and go get your own god damn dress." Rose yelled. Rose was sick and tired of Constance being taken advantage of by Jewel.  
Jewel obviously didn't take the threat seriously. She folded her arms walked up to Rose and said, "And what are you going to do about it? Use your stupid little mermaid powers?"  
Rose knew there was nothing she could really do, so she stayed quiet.  
"That's what I thought." The moment Jewel turned to leave another female figure appeared in Constance doorway.  
"Is there a problem here?"  
Rose recognized her. It was Ben's friend, Arianna Cromwell.  
"Arianna!" Constance smiled.

Arianna smiled back. "Hey Connie, what's Jewel done now?"  
Jewel rolled her eyes.  
"Wait, Constance, isn't that your dress? You showed it to me the other night." It didn't take long for Arianna to put the pieces together. "Ah, I see what's going on here. Jewel get out of poor Constance's dress now before all hell breaks loose."  
Jewel snorted. "Yeah right, Arianna. You don't have the nerve."  
"Wanna bet?" To Constance's, Rose's (and even Jewel's) surprise, Arianna slammed her fist into Jewel's face, knocking her to the ground. Arianna bent down, closer to Jewel's face and shout whispered, "Get out of the dress." Arianna then proceeded to get up, smiled at Constance and Rose and said, "I'll see you at the ball!" Then she skipped down the hall.  
Rose and Constance's mouth were wide open. They couldn't believe what just happened.  
Jewel wasn't knocked out, just apparently sore and cranky, since she was whining and complaining. It didn't take long for Jewel to get out of the dress and hand it to Constance. "Here." Then she left the area.  
Rose and Constance broke out in laughter.  
"I have a whole new respect for Arianna."  
"Yeah, she can either be your best friend or your worst enemy." Constance explained as she put her dress on an available hanger and hung it on her closet door. Constance turned around. "Wait, what are _you_ wearing to the ball?"  
"I don't know." Rose shrugged.  
Constance gasped, "You know what this means?"  
"That I'm going to the Ball in my birthday suit?" Rose questioned.  
"We're going to go SHOPPING!" Constance shrieked.

* * *

Rose and Constance were at their third store. They couldn't find any dress that just screamed Rose. They were hoping this would be the one store where they actually found something. Constance and Rose split up and searched separate ends of the store (Constance searched the left, Rose searched the right). "Together we are unstoppable!" Constance had said. _I think Constance watches way too many mystery shows_, Rose thought.  
Rose sauntered over to a clothing rack that contained various colors of dresses. "No, no, no…and No." Rose said while viewing each item of clothing.  
_Ugh, will I ever find a dress?_ Rose thought.

"Rose, Rose, Rose! I found something!" Constance yelled as she scurried over to Rose's section. "It's perfect!" She grabbed a hold of Rose's hand and pulled hard in the direction of the dress.  
When Rose saw the dress she gasped. It was beautiful. It was a long deep dark red dress. The bust of the dress was in the form of red petals. Rose grinned from ear to ear. "It is perfect," she exclaimed.

* * *

Meanwhile with Lily, Lily was unsure of what to do with herself. She always found herself as the motherly type and nowadays it seemed that she didn't need to mother anyone. Rose was always spending time with the Wood's and Lewis too. Lily seemed to be getting sick of doing nothing. _Maybe I need some excitement in my life_, Lily thought.  
Lily sat down on the living room couch in hopes to find something entertaining to watch.  
_Ding Dong!_  
The sound of the doorbell annoyed Lily. _I just sat down._ _Who could it be?_ Lily thought. Rose was at James' and she wouldn't even ring the doorbell.  
Lily got up to see who it was. She opened the door and was surprised to see who it was.  
"Ash?" Lily was not in the mood to talk to him. "What do you want?"  
"I'm sorry for what happened to you, ok! But I really need your help!"  
"I'm not helping you. The last time I did something with you I nearly died. Why should I trust you?" Lily asked.  
"It's about the Vampire Ball." Ash's eyes seemed sympathetic.  
"What about the Vampire Ball?" Lily asked. Lily was intrigued now, considering since Rose was going to the ball.  
"I'm going to crash the Vampire Ball and I need your help." Ash asked, his tone pleading.  
"What could I possibly do?" Lily wondered. _I am not killing a vampire_, Lily thought.  
"I need your help getting in."  
Lily figured it'd be a good idea to go to the Vampire Ball after all if danger might be afoot there.  
"Ok, I'll consider helping you, but what exactly are you trying to do?"  
"I'm trying to kill a vampire."

* * *

A couple days went by and the Vampire Ball was finally here. Rose, Constance, Lewis, Ben and James were waiting for the transportation to come and pick them up. Rose and Constance were wearing their beautiful dresses (Constance had gotten hers dry cleaned after the Jewel fiasco), while the men looked dapper in their tuxes.  
The girls were patiently waiting for the transportation in the living room at the Wood's house, while the boys were lounging in Mr. Wood's study. Well Ben and Lewis were lounging. James was sitting at his Dad's desk organizing last minute details.  
Ben noticed James was still stressed even though tonight was the Vampire Ball. "Relax, big brother, everything will go as planned. No need to get your panties in a bunch."  
Lewis laughed while James gave him a stern look.  
"Have some more Type AB, Ben," James said sarcastically.  
"Gladly," Ben continued to chug his glassful of blood.  
Arianna came waltzing in wearing a delightful grey dress with lace fabric and beading. "Bennie!"  
"Annie!"  
Ben embraced Arianna in a meaningful hug.  
"Say, where's your Dad?" Arianna asked, curiously while glancing around the Wood's household.  
"Oh he's meeting us at the Ball." Ben said. "Good thing too," he mumbled to himself.  
"What?" Arianna asked.  
"Nothing, let's join the others. James?" Ben glanced at his older half-brother who was still at his Dad's desk stressing as usual.  
James sulked and said, "Might as well, the limo should be here any minute."  
Arianna, James, Ben and Lewis joined the others in the living room.  
"Hey Ben!"  
Ben glanced at whoever said his name. It was Rose. Ben glanced at Rose's ensemble. He was speechless. "H-h-ey Rose."  
Arianna glanced at Ben. "Wow, I didn't think you could get speechless."  
"Lewis!" Constance beamed and motioned over to the couch where she had saved him a seat.  
Lewis smiled and walked towards her.  
"Hey, miss me?"  
Everyone glanced up. Jewel was in the front of the living room wearing a little pink dress that showed more legs then dress, and looked unappealing. "I hope you don't mind me dropping by."  
"We do." Ben and Arianna said in unison.  
"Hey, Constance, love the dress. It looks great on you. But it looked even better on me."  
Constance sulked in her seat; Lewis noticed.  
"Hey Jewel, what happened to your eye?" Arianna said, smiling.  
Arianna was right. Where Arianna had punched Jewel there now was very noticeable black eye as well as bruising surrounding it.  
Constance and Rose laughed.  
"Must have put on too much eye shadow, whoops." Jewel lied. Jewel moved closer towards Constance. "So Constance, is he your date?" Jewel asked, pointing at Lewis.  
"Um, yeah," Constance mumbled.  
"Well, what are you… Vampire, Human? Wait I know, you're a little merman just like fish girl over there." Jewel pointed at Rose.  
From the looks of it, it seemed Lewis' head was going to explode. "WHY ARE YOU HERE!"  
He started to yell at Jewel.  
Jewel was a bit taken aback by Lewis' sudden loud rant.  
He continued, this time standing up and stepped closer to Jewel. "No one likes you! You're just a selfish little spoiled bitch that just seems to keep following us around. Well guess what! We don't want you around! So why don't you and that fugly little thing you call a dress leave and never come back? We won't miss you! So just go…now!"  
Jewel's expression was full of shock, so was everyone else's.  
"And another thing, I'm sick and tired of you picking on Constance! She's the sweetest, caring and generous person that I've ever met and you…you're just a bitch! So leave…NOW!"  
Jewel didn't even say a word. She just stormed off. How she was getting to the Vampire Ball, no one knew.  
When Jewel was out of sight, everyone broke out in laughter, even James chuckled.  
"Lewis, that was awesome!" Rose proclaimed.  
"You put that bitch in her place!" Ben stated.  
Even Arianna said, "I like you blonde guy."  
Lewis was beaming. "It was nothing."  
Constance ran and kissed him. "Aw Lewis, no one's every done that for me! You're the sweetest!"  
"Well that's a great way to start of the Vampire Ball," Ben said. And it was.

* * *

**A/N: Hey guys, it's Kelly! :)  
Hope you liked this chapter! Did you guys like Lewis' rant?**

_**Marathon schedule this week:**_

**Friday – Chapter 33/34 (finale)**

**Sunday – Post finale livechat with the authors (7:30 pm Central, we will be discussing the finale and the sequel/second season). More details in our profile. (It's actually Central time...NOT Eastern, sorry Maddie)**

**Its ALMOST OVER! D:  
Check back Fangbook for we'll be posting the finale synopsis aswell as promo stills & a bunch of other goodies!  
And once again..REVIEW!**

**-Kelly**


	34. Chapter 33&34: Finale

**Fangs & Fins  
Chapter 33 and 34: "Finale"**

The Woods' home was massive. James had made a great venue selection; it was definitely an appropriate place to hold a ball. From a distance it just looked like a large white box, but the closer the car approached Rose could make out bulky columns perched under a broad pediment (which was carved with elaborate designs and some Latin script).  
Constance squealed excitedly, James and Arianna wore matching expressions (Rose couldn't decide if they were aggravated or just nervous). Ben high-fived Lewis and squeezed Rose's shoulders.  
Two petite vampires were stationed at the front of the house, wearing matching ivory colored frocks. They clutched clipboards in their left hands; silver pens in the other.  
They waved Constance, Ben, Arianna and James past, while Lewis showed the attendant on the right his and Rose's invitations. The attendant wrote something on her clipboard and motioned for Lewis and Rose to head on in.  
Lewis walked over to Constance (who was still waiting in the doorway) while Rose straightened out her dress. She wasn't used to long dresses or high heels, for that matter and her heels were throbbing.  
A pack of vampires all sporting short black dresses pushed past Rose, Constance and Lewis, giggling at James as they made their way into the foyer. Rose frowned and stepped inside, Lewis (with Constance latched onto his arm) close behind.  
The foyer was huge. There was a marble staircase with intricate iron railing on both sides of the room; the walls were kind of a cream color, and an enormous crystal chandelier hung in the middle of the ceiling. Long tables sporting large bowls filled with different types of blood were located under the windows in the far right corner, and hundreds upon hundreds of vampires were gathered in groups across the foyer, or in giant packs engaged in some complex dance routine. The foyer bled into a massive ballroom which had been draped from floor to almost impossible high ceiling with red chiffon and black velvet. The chandelier was dimmed and thick white candles illuminated to room. It was difficult to see in the candle light, and Rose clung to the closest arm she could find (Arianna).  
Around Rose colorful skirts swished and crystal glasses were sipped. James was passing out glasses of blood to her friends (O for Arianna, AB for Ben and a small glass of A for Constance and himself). Constance eventually lead Lewis off to dance and Arianna was dragged away by a throng of tall blondes (her family, Rose assumed), Ben sprinting after her. James smiled and admired his work.  
"I thought we agreed not to get separated?" Rose asked quietly, watching James take a sip of his drink.  
James shrugged and looked at Rose. "Are you thirsty? I think there might be some water in the kitchen?"  
Rose nodded and James held out his arm.

* * *

Getting into the ball had been about ten times easier than Lily had initially thought.  
All Lily had to do was ask James for invitation, and he'd given her not one, but two (she'd promptly handed the second one over to Ash, who had given her instructions about how to get in and had went into a tangent about how the security left something to be desired).  
Lily had dug through her closet, anxiety bubbling in the pit of her stomach. In the end she'd decided on a simple light blue dress and had braided her hair. She couldn't find any heels that went with her dress, in the end she settled on some old silver flats (the left one was falling apart and the right one had black scuffmarks). She knew she looked sloppy, but it was the best she could do.  
Her jewelry selection consisted mostly of old earring studs and friendship bracelets she, Rose and Lewis had made at various camps over the summer. She had one nice pair of earrings and an old locket that went with her dress, though. Lily put the locket and earrings on and grabbed her clutch and invitation before headed towards the door.  
Ash had gotten her a cab and had given her a bundle of cash to pay the driver. He was arriving separately with "back-up". Lily hoped that meant Petra. She didn't really like the rest of Ash's vampire-hunting friends; they made perverted jokes and were pretty banal about 94% of the time. She smoothed her dress after she was safely in the cab and prayed that Ash could complete his mission quickly and they could leave before Rose noticed her.  
Before Lily could show her invite to one of the attendants positioned near the front door, they waved her inside. Lily held the invite up half-heartedly, then stuffed it in her clutch and skipped inside.  
It was chaotic inside, with only some old candles providing light. Lily squinted and stepped behind a pack of vampires wearing pale blue and bottle green dresses. If she could stay around them until she found Ash she'd be fine (and hopefully no one would notice her). She clutched her cell phone tightly and listened to one of the vampires' gossip about Constance's date for the night. Which was Lewis, right?  
Lily stood on her tiptoes and looked around, seeing if she could spot Lewis and Constance, when Ben Wood taped her on the shoulder.  
"Lil...okay, I don't have a nickname for you. But Lily!" Ben jumped up and down excitedly. "You're here!"  
He put his arm around a pretty blonde with freckles and grinned. "This is Arianna. Could you stay with her while I go find my brother and your sister? She's a bit upset."  
Ben was leaning into Arianna and acting like the second he let go of her he was going to fall to the ground. He was also acting like a hyperactive five year old on a sugar rush, so Lily concluded that he must be drunk. Or the vampire equivalence of intoxication, whatever that was.  
"You're like, so motherly," Ben said, putting his head on Arianna's shoulder and stroking her hair fondly. Arianna swatted his hand away. "Please?"  
"Of course," Lily said, feeling kind of used but whatever. Arianna wouldn't draw as much attention as Ben would.  
Ben smiled and let go of Arianna. "Awesome! You're the man!" He threw his arms up in the air and ran through the crowd hollering.  
"Uh, do you want to sit?" Lily asked Arianna. She motioned to one of the stair cases.  
"Sure." Arianna sat down on the third step and Lily sat awkwardly beside her, shoving her phone into her clutch.  
"So, um. What's a matter?"  
"Oh. Just family stuff." Arianna's legs were splayed out on the steps, her hands in her lap. "Sorry you got stuck as my condolence; Ben gets a little crazy when he has too much AB."  
Lily gave a weak smile. "It's fine. I'm used to it." She gave a little laugh afterwards. "I don't mind people relying on me. It's nice. I mean, even if I don't want to help them I do. I don't like disappointing people, it just feels...icky."  
"Well you shouldn't have to sacrifice things, right? Like having fun tonight. I'm Ben's friend anyway."  
"...I don't mind sacrificing things, if it helps others. I'll put my feelings first if someone else could get hurt."  
"Maybe you should put your feelings first, for once." Arianna said softly, looking up in the large chandelier. "How do you feel about Rose? And James and Ben?"  
Lily didn't say anything for a few moments before Arianna reached out and touched her fishtail braid. "Look, we're matching!" She pointed to her own braid.  
Arianna had a nice smile, the kind that made Lily instantly feel better.  
_I can be friends with this girl. I can make an effort. I can be more supportive of Rose and James. I can be more tolerant of Lewis and Ben eating our food and singing anime theme songs day in and day out. Because I want to, I want Rose and Lewis to be happy. Even if their new friends are vampires._ Lily thought.  
"Come on," Lily said, grabbing Arianna's hand and pulling her past the crowd of vampires and onto the dance floor. A jaunty little reggae song came on and Lily twirled around. Arianna immediately joined in, grabbing Lily's hand and spinning her around.  
It took James and Rose a while to locate water-bottles in the Woods' kitchen. Eventually they'd found four stashed in a Lazy Susan. Now they were on the hunt for Lewis to give him one of the bottles.  
James was carrying the other two bottles (Rose had already finished one). Lewis and Constance were slow dancing, Constance's head on Lewis' shoulder (though with her heels she was taller than him). She would just see Arianna twirling around on the other side of the room.  
"Lewis," Rose tapped him on the shoulder and passed him a bottle. He smiled appreciatively.  
"JAMES!" Ben shouted, racing over to where Constance, Rose, James and Lewis were standing (and knocking over a group of girls in the process. "Bro, dad's coming in!"  
James's smile vanished and he pulled Rose over towards one of the staircases. Sure enough, Mr. Wood was pacing slowly towards the top of the staircase, flanked by a few other men on each side.  
The music stopped and Mr. Wood opened his mouth to speak.  
"Welcome all to the 765th annual vampire ball! As I am sure many of you are aware, our family has not had the opportunity to host the ball in over a decade, which is why we went out of our way to make this year's ball fantastic..."  
Rose couldn't listen to him. She reached for Ben's hand and squeezed. This man killed our moms; this man killed our moms...  
At least she didn't have to call him 'dad' like Ben.  
Ben squeezed back and ran his thumb up and down the side of Rose's hand. She squeezed his hand harder.  
As soon as Mr. Wood finished his speech and the crowd below began clapping, the candles went out.  
A portion of the room gasped, Mr. Wood's stormy voice told everyone to remain calm. The candles could be relit in a matter of moments. Someone turned on the electrically lights, which were extremely bright and hurt Rose's eyes.  
She looked up at Mr. Wood, who was looking bug-eyed at something in the corner, over where Arianna had been. The crowd followed his gaze, and Rose spotted Lily, of all people had been Arianna's partner.  
But Mr. Wood wasn't looking at Lily. He was looking at a much smaller person standing on top of one of the drink tables. He was dressed in all black, and his blonde hair was styled in neat spikes.  
Rose's breath hitched. It was impossible.  
"Rose..." Ben whispered. "I've seen him. In that picture on your mantel..."  
And in the school pictures in the hall, in the large family photo over the fireplace, in small frames throughout Rose's room.  
Elliot.

"Elliot?" Rose muttered. "H-h-ow is this possible? You're supposed to be dead."  
Elliot stepped closer towards his older sister Rose, "That is where you're wrong. I never died." Elliot's voice was quite humorous. It was exactly the same, super high and squeaky.  
"But you look exactly the same. The only explanation possible is…is…" Rose couldn't utter the word.  
"That's right; vampire." Elliot gleamed, clearly proud of the creature he had become.  
"How did this happen?" Lily asked, shocked herself.  
"Well, Rose thought I had died that day, but in reality I escaped and met up with Byron. I changed him and together we planned on getting revenge, with the help of my father." Elliot explained.  
The others were confused.  
"Dad, as in _our_ Dad?" Lily questioned.  
Mr. Wood appeared out of the shadows. "As in me," he spoke.  
James spoke. "Dad? You're Elliot's Dad? How is that possible?"  
Mr. Wood stepped closer to James, "Well, James to be quite honest I'm surprised it took you this long for you to figure out. You see, I am the most powerful vampire, and I figured it only best if I were to marry the most powerful mermaid."  
"Mermaid?" Lily and Rose gasped. They had no idea that their own mother was like them; a mermaid.  
"But of course the plan was ruined because she met that human and had you two. But I knew in time I could force her to see things my way." Mr. Wood smiled evilly.  
"So you forced her to sleep with you?" Lily stated.  
"No, eventually she came to her senses. But I grew tired of her, so I killed her. She must have had Elliot I suppose."  
Ben laughed and glanced at Elliot, "How old are you, like four?"  
"I may look four, but in reality I'm ten."  
"Oh, big difference," Ben stated, sarcastically, clearly mocking Elliot.  
"Quiet you!" Elliot grabbed hold of Ben and sent him flying towards the refreshments.  
When Ben had landed he was pissed. He lunged at Elliot, ready to tear his head off.  
Elliot took Ben's hands off of him and stated, "You wouldn't want anything to happen to your little Rosie would you?"  
"What are you talking about?" Ben shouted.  
"Turn around." Elliot ordered.  
Ben, as well as the others, turned around and noticed that someone had a hold of Rose."  
"If you kill Elliot, I kill her," the young man said, threatenly.  
Lily recognized the voice. "Byron?"  
It clearly was Byron; Lily recognized the beach blonde hair. But there was something off about him. It took Lily a moment to realize that Byron had big white fangs appearing in his teeth and that he was holding Rose forcefully.  
"You're a vampire!" Lily gasped. "But why?"  
"I had no purpose in life! Then I ran into Elliot and he made me see the beauties of being a vampire. Like this for instance." His bared his teeth and was mere seconds away from plunging his fangs into Rose's neck.  
Rose started to scream by was cut off by a wince by Byron.  
Ash had snuck up from behind and had shot numerous wooden bullets into Byron's back. Lily assumed Ash must of snuck in amidst all the chaos. "Let her go, or this time I'll use something bigger…like a stake." Ash threatened.  
Byron apparently wasn't hurt since he managed to pull the bullets out of his back with ease. "Gladly," Byron responded. He threw Rose as hard as he could.  
Rose's scream penetrated threw the air. She landed painfully on top of numerous chairs and tables.  
"ROSE!" James and Ben yelled in unison. James ran towards Rose, while Ben ran towards Byron.  
Ben asked Ash, "Can I borrow that?" Ash had in his hand a wooden stake.  
Ash seemed to know where this was headed. "Certainly," he responded  
Ben, with stake in hand, forced the wooden stake into Byron's chest, causing Byron to reek in pain. Ben plunged the stake in further and watched Byron's face turn to gray and his body start to wither away. Byron's now dead body hit the floor.  
"That's for hurting Rose, dick!" Ben followed the others to where Rose now lay. "How bad is it?"  
James was sitting right next to her, her head in her lap, "Well she's knocked out. But she has a light pulse, so she should be ok."  
Constance knelt down besides Rose, tears in her eyes. "Rosie!" She ran her fingers through Rose's hair. "She'll be fine, she has to." A tear rolled down her cheeks.  
Lily couldn't bear to look at the current state of her sister. She held onto the nearest person she could find (which was Arianna).  
Arianna motioned for Ash to comfort Lily. "There's someone I need to take care of," she muttered to herself.  
Arianna lunged towards Elliot, her fangs poking out.  
"Arianna, NO!"  
Arianna glanced over to see Ben. Ben ran over towards Elliot and grabbed a hold of his head.  
"You don't have the nerve," Elliot muttered to Ben.  
"Oh yes, I believe I do."  
_Crack!_  
Ben had decapitated Elliot's head!  
Everyone gasped, especially Lily!  
"Ben! What did you do?" Lily yelled.  
"It had to be done," Ben proclaimed. His hands were now covered in Elliot's blood.  
Everyone began to breathe a sigh of relief.  
It seemed that all their troubles were over.  
"Excuse me?"  
Well almost all their troubles.  
The voice came from Jewel, who apparently missed all the fun. She was probably making out with a random vampire somewhere, Lily thought.  
"What is going on in here?" Jewel said, while looking around at the giant mess that was the ballroom.  
Mr. Wood must have left the area, because he wasn't found anywhere.  
Jewel then noticed Constance sitting by Rose, crying for her friend. "Aw, what happened Constance, your little mermaid friend pass out?"  
Constance was full of rage! She stood up and huffed and puffed towards Jewel. "Stop taunting and teasing me like I'm a little kid! I'm sick and tired of it! You're a bitch and you always will be!" Constance grabbed a piece of the wooden table that had broken off from Rose's fall (why they had wooden tables at the Vampire Ball, no one knew) and plunged it into Jewel.  
Jewel withered in pain and fell to the floor.  
Ben, Lewis, and Lily had their mouths hung open. They couldn't believe sweet little Constance would hurt anyone.  
Constance obviously didn't want to talk about it since she knelt down next to Lewis (who was still tending to Rose). Constance suddenly tore a small gash in her wrist with her teeth, causing her blood to appear. "Will this help?" Constance figured that her vampire blood would heal her, which could probably be true.  
"That's ok, Connie. We don't want Rose to be at the risk of becoming a vampire." Ben responded.  
Ash suddenly got a disgusted look upon his face. "What's that smell?"  
No one around him seemed to understand what he was talking about.  
Constance looked down at her wrist. "It might be me. It could be my vampire blood."  
A shocked expression appeared across his face. "I don't believe it," he muttered to himself.  
Constance just stood there, confused.  
"You're the vampire."  
Constance chuckled. "Of course I'm a vampire."  
"No, you're _the_ vampire; the vampire I have to kill."  
"What does that-?" Constance started to say, but couldn't because Ash had suddenly pulled out a stake from behind him and threw it straight through her chest.  
"NO!" James yelled.  
Constance's face started to lose color and she whimpered in pain.  
"Ash, what did you do?" Lily yelled at him.  
"She was the vampire that I needed to kill. The one that was killing all those humans."  
Ben ran towards him. "THAT WAS ME, YOU IDIOT!"  
Ash's expression changed from happy to horrified. He had killed the wrong vampire. He had killed sweet innocent Constance.  
James knelt besides Constance, tears streaming down his face.  
Constance's body now was all gray and lifeless. The once Hugsy-loving seventeen year old vampire was gone.  
James looked up at Ash. "You did this!"  
Ash threw up his hands. "I'm sorry man."  
James got up off his feet and walked towards Ash. "You're sorry. YOU'RE SORRY? I'm sorrier for you."  
James reached into his chest and ripped his heart out. Ash's body fell to the floor.  
Lily looked around four dead bodies appeared on the floor and one barely living body.  
"Guys we have to get Rose to a hospital!" Arianna yelled. "NOW!"  
Ben cradled Rose into his arms and ran out of the room, followed by Lewis, Lily and Arianna. James stayed behind to look peer at Constance. He knelt down besides her and kissed her forehead.

* * *

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_  
_Ugh, make the beeping noises stop!_ Rose thought to herself. Rose opened her eyes to realize that she was in a different place. She instantly knew that she was in a hospital of some sort.  
"Hey, don't get up. You need to rest."  
Rose turned her head to see Ben lounging on a hospital chair, reading a dumb sports magazine. "What am I doing here?" Rose asked.  
"Well, you kind of nearly died by your stupid little brother." Ben explained.  
"Oh, yeah," Rose realized. "Where are the others?"  
"Lily and are down the hall getting you something to eat, and James is at home. He's a bit upset."  
"And Constance?" Rose wondered.  
Ben's expression immediately changed. He got up from his chair and sat on her bed. "I'm sorry, Rosie. Ash staked her. She's gone."  
Tears formed her eyes. "What?"

* * *

It took a few days for Rose to heal. She didn't have many injuries; just a mild concussion, a sprained ankle and a few scrapes and bruises. Rose wondered how she was still alive after everything that happened at the Vampire Ball. Ben, Lily and Lewis explained everything that happened to her. It was hard for her to listen, especially about Constance. Her one and only friend was long gone and that was going to be hard for her to bear.  
"Well, we're here." Ben opened the door and motioned Rose in. He still needed to help her move around, what with her near-death experience and all.  
"Thanks." Rose smiled.  
Ben helped Rose get nice and settled onto the couch. "Need anything to drink?" Ben asked Rose.  
"Some juice of some sort if there is any." Rose responded.  
"I'm on it." Ben said, and went into the kitchen looking for a beverage for Rose.  
_Beep Beep! _Ben glanced down at a text message. The only words that were displayed on the text said: _Kill her! NOW!_ Ben figured it was now or never, so he reached into his pocket and pulled out a dagger.  
"I can't believe he's making me do this," Ben muttered to himself, a tear trickled down his cheek. He wiped it away and got Rose a glass of lemonade.  
He walked back into the living room, dagger behind in one hand behind his back and lemonade in another hand.  
"Thanks." Rose took the glass of lemonade. "So, what do you want to do?"  
"I don't know, we could probably watch some Disney movie if you want." Ben suggested.  
"Ok. But first Ben, I just want to say one thing."  
"What's that?" Ben questioned.  
"Thank you for everything. You've been so kind to me lately."  
Ben blushed. "It's nothing really."  
"No it's not nothing. You've changed, Ben. You really have." Rose grabbed a hold of Ben's free hand.  
Ben remembered the dagger behind his back. "No, I really haven't Rose."  
Rose placed another hand on his cheek. "Yes you have."  
Ben moved closer and closer towards Rose, completely forgetting about the dagger and his objective of killing Rose. Before he knew it his lips were on hers and he dropped the dagger from his hand.  
Even though Ben had kissed and made out with hundreds of other girls before, this kiss with Rose seemed different, almost electrifying. They pulled away from the kiss in time to find Mr. Collins opening in the front door.  
"Hey kids, I'm home!"  
Was he in for a surprise!

* * *

**A/N: Hey guys it's Kelly! Well...that's it! That's the finale! Did you like it?  
We've had the majority of the finale planned since the very beginning...so to see it come to life is just unbelieveable.  
There WILL be more! We are working on a sequel...so get ready for that!**

I really hope you guys like the finale & the over all series as much as we did writing it!

Get ready for tons more action & drama in the sequel! :) (Which has yet to be titled :/)

**Remember: Live chat Sunday at 7:30 CENTRAL time! The link is /kelcalitus  
Maddie & I will both be in attendance & we'll be discussing both the finale & some sequel spoilers :)**

**-Kelly**


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